Frozen Leaves
by v1olinh3ro
Summary: this fan continuation of ANBU Legacy kind of got away from me
1. Friendly Contemplation

Though Naruto knows _a shinobi is in all things patient_ , he can't help bouncing his knees as Iruka-sensei congratulates the class on becoming genin. He's just as curious about who his jounin-sensei will be as he is about his teammates. He reflects on Kakashi-niisan's teasing from the previous night.

 _It's a surprise, Naruto-kun._

 _But what if I don't like my sensei? How come you get to know and I don't?_

 _You'll see. I don't think you have anything to worry about._

Naruto drags himself out of his reverie in time to hear Iruka rattling off team assignments, "...On Team Seven, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto. Your jounin-sensei will meet you at 0700 tomorrow on training field three. Team Eight..."

At this point, Naruto stops listening. He turns in his seat to give Sasuke a fierce, competitive smile. The Yondaime's son and the latest iteration of kaleidoscope eyes have been trying to outdo each other since their first day in the Academy.

The corner of Sasuke's mouth twitches up in response. Naruto is about to say something when Sakura flicks his ear and hisses, "Pay attention!"

Naruto rolls his eyes at her and directs his attention back towards the front of the classroom, where Iruka is wrapping up.

"I want you all to know how proud I am of each and every one of you. Tomorrow, you take the next steps on your ninja journey. I'm excited to see where it leads you," Iruka grins.

The students exchange bows with the young teacher as they hasten out of the classroom and into the soft glow of the early morning sun. There's a promise of that summer heat Konoha is well-known for in the air, but for now a cool breeze tousles Naruto's hair. He walks backwards through the streets, facing Sasuke and Sakura.

"So, Dad's not gonna be home for a while and niisan's on Wall Duty. Whaddya say we go to Ichiraku?"

Sakura wrinkles her nose, "It's always Ichiraku with you. Don't you eat anything else?"

"Actually, I do. But it's a special occasion, 'ttebayo, my treat! S'not every day you make genin, but I was a shoo-in anyways."

Sasuke snorts, "You? Who had the highest grade in the class, idiot?"

The three are still bickering when they take their seats on the stools at the ramen stand. Teuchi cheerfully sets the usual sutamina ramen in front of them, plus an additional plate of three red bean daifuku from Shiranui Bakery.

Naruto grabs one of the pastries and is about to shove it in his mouth, "Itadakimasu!" but then he realizes something important, "Oh, I only brought enough money to pay for the ramen. Sasuke? Can you spare me the ryou?"

Teuchi chuckles and hooks a thumb towards his forehead, "It's on the house. Congratulations to you three."

The newly minted genin flush with pleasure, then Sakura slaps Naruto upside the head, "Say thank you! Don't you have manners?"

Naruto rubs the sore spot on the back of his neck, "Thanks, Teuchi-san."

For the first five minutes, there's a dearth of conversation, then Sasuke clears his throat and asks what's on everyone's mind, "Who do you guys think our jounin-sensei is going to be?"

Sakura twiddles her chopsticks, "Well, it has to be someone Yondaime-sama trusts to handle Naruto."

"You say that like he doesn't trust every shinobi in this village," Naruto squints at Sakura, "Though he would probably pick someone who's not involved with Sasuke's family."

"There's nothing wrong with my family!"

"No, but Dad probably doesn't want anyone starting drama. If our new sensei _likes_ your family, they could try to get close to you and ignore me and Sakura. On the other hand, if they don't, you could become chopped liver."

"Fair enough. So," Sasuke counts off on his fingers, "What active duty jounin don't have any strong feelings towards my family, can wrangle Naruto, and are petitioning for a genin team?"

"Maybe niisan..." Naruto says, starry-eyed.

Sakura glares at him, "You're two for three at best. You know pretty much every Uchiha hates him."

"I don't hate him! That much. And not for the reason everyone else does," Sasuke's lips twist in a wry smile. Kakashi is an unapologetic pain in the ass, but Naruto's opinions of him have colored his own. Whatever happened that led to Kakashi gaining a Sharingan eye, Sasuke knows it wasn't forcibly taken. The Copy-nin would look less depressed every time Obito was mentioned, otherwise.

"Okay, okay. I really wanted it to be niisan."

"He's not fit to handle genin, he's got the emotional range of a wet paper bag," Sakura presses her lips into a thin line, "Perhaps the Sandaime's son?"

"Asuma? Wouldn't that be kind of a political...thing, dattebayo? Cause I'm the current Hokage's son."

Sakura's frown deepens, "This is hard. Do you know any other jounin?"

"Yeah, but they're all ANBU. I only know their masks. Plus, who'd quit ANBU to teach?"

"You'd be surprised," Sasuke shrugs, "Anyways, I should be getting back. Mom wanted me to help her clean the family shrine."

Naruto sighs dramatically, slipping a kunai out of his pouch and twirling it around his fingers, "I guess I'll just head back home, all alone..."

"Don't trip and poke your eye out on the way," Sakura teases.

* * *

Naruto can hardly sleep that night. He stares up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling of his bedroom and imagines the name of his jounin-sensei is scrawled in them.


	2. Naruto's Attempts at Nepotism Don't Work

Minato is around to have a hasty breakfast with Naruto, but he's as inscrutable as ever.

"C'mon, Dad! Why won't you tell me?"

"Because it's technically still classified, and I have to go to the office and retool the village's budget. Again." Minato plants a kiss in Naruto's hair, "Play nice, you little devil. I love you," and Hiraishin's away.

Naruto allows himself a few seconds to pout before gathering his things and leaving. Despite the lack of restful sleep, he's bright-eyed when he approaches training field three at 0630, a whole half hour early. To his surprise, he sees a tall figure already there, stretching out and getting limber.

"Ryouma?! What're you doing here?" Naruto jogs over and looks up and up, hands on hips.

"That's Ryouma-sensei to you, Naruto-kun," he says with a smile that could make angels cry. Naruto, however, is unswayed by his wiles. He's had almost nine years to get used to them.

The white-hot and somewhat unfocused chakra signature of his approaching teammate gives the impression that someone else isn't entirely unmoved. Sasuke nearly stumbles into Naruto as he takes in all of Ryouma's staggering height.

"Sensei," Sasuke says breathlessly as he dips into a bow.

"Ryouma-sensei is a dork, 'ttebayo, you can do better," Naruto rolls his eyes.

The smile on Ryouma's face doesn't drop, but it looks a little pained, remembering his own crushes on his teachers, "Starting with someone your own age'n single, yeah?"

Any jounin worth their weight could sense the sloppy concealment of Sakura's approaching chakra signature, but the two bickering genin jump when their teammate suddenly appears behind them.

"Sakura! What the f...heck!" Naruto turns his disapproving look on her.

"If either of you were halfway decent ninja, you'd have sensed me coming. Sasuke, stop drooling." she's practically radiating condescension as she turns her gaze up at Ryouma, "I suppose you're our jounin-sensei?"

"I s'pose so! Name's Tousaki Ryouma. You must be Sakura, then?" Ryouma stretches his arms above his head, surreptitiously revealing two bells jingling at his belt.

She nods and is about to say something before Sasuke loses his infatuation startlingly quickly, "The rot-ninja? _That_ Tousaki Ryouma?"

"And niisan's boyfriend," Naruto pipes up smugly.

"I can do other things," he grins, the double-entendre flying over the genins' heads, "I was gonna save jutsu demonstration for later, but I guess my reputation precedes me."

Ryouma pulls an opaque plastic container out of a cooler. Inside is a small, dead rat, filched from the street on his way home the previous night.

"I hope none of you had a big breakfast. Plug your nose if you need to, but it'll be better if you all get used to the smell. I'd rather be scooping you up off the training field now than during a mission."

Ryouma dumps the rat onto the ground, shapes the seals for the _Nikutai Tokasu no Jutsu_ and his hands glow red with sickly chakra. Sasuke and Sakura shy back from the deadly glow, but Naruto holds steady - he's seen this jutsu before. Ryouma lays his hands on the small body. It takes little time before all that remains is black ooze on the grass.

The smell of decay reaches the three genin's noses. Sakura stands stock-still, Sasuke covers his nose and mouth, retching, and Naruto lets out a shuddering exhale. None of them keel over.

"So, that's my Human Flesh Melt Technique," Ryouma says, surveying his students' reactions, "Hopefully, I won't have to use it in front of you anytime soon, 'cause that'd mean we're in for something tougher than three genin can handle."

He perks up, "Anyways. Onto today's exercise!"

Naruto groans, "Ryouma..."

"It's not 0700 yet," Sakura points out shrewdly.

"You're right, it's not," Ryouma says with raised eyebrows, "Good job on being early, that leaves us more time for trainin' before we've gotta hand it over to a chuunin squad. As for your task, I wanna see how well you can work together as a team. First two to get the bells offa me get a reward."

"Is there a time limit?" Sasuke asks.

"You've got 'till noon," Ryouma sends them another earth-shattering grin, flicking through seals, "Good luck!"

Three shadow clones appear next to him and he flashes them a bastardized two-fingered salute before he disappears into the nearby copse of trees.


	3. Now We're Ninja

Team Seven now has a smattering of D rank missions under their belts. Construction projects, locating lost pets, helping with harvests, and running errands have been the order of the past six weeks and the kids are all chomping at the bit for more action. Ryouma finally feels they're ready for an escort mission when the three of them rustle up enough teamwork to corral a particularly crafty lost cat. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't aching to get out in the field, too.

Anaji Shenzou is the receptionist of the Missions Office, an older shinobi with missing legs and graying hair. He acknowledges the tumble of limbs falling through the door and the jounin-sensei grimacing behind it with barely a flick of his eyelids. He continues to work diligently at his paperwork, in triplicate.

Ryouma leans hip-shot against the counter, keeping a hand each on Naruto's and Sasuke's heads as they jockey for a better position, trying to get a peek at what dangerous tasks might be available.

"Let me guess," the veteran says without looking up, "First C rank?"

Naruto vibrates with excitement, "Yeah! Ryouma-sensei said the way we nabbed that cat deserves a reward. More than just the mission pay. And the buns the lady gave us."

Shenzou looks at Naruto with disdain, "Catching cats, huh? Surely Ryouma-sensei has higher standards for his whelps than that."

The three genin bristle, but Ryouma takes the teasing in stride, "Nice to see you again, too, Anaji-san. Got anything interesting for the kids?"

Shenzou sighs and pushes his wheelchair over to a filing cabinet, where he digs out a folder and sends it towards Ryouma with a flick of his wrist. Ryouma catches the folder and, as is standard mission procedure for him, takes his team into a separate room for a dictation. He takes coded, mnemonic notes in large kana on the pad he keeps tucked against his chest. He has perfect aural recall, but it doesn't hurt to jog the memory every now and again.

As for the mission, it's an escort to the Land of Waves, a straight shot south of Konoha. Apparently, there have been a lot of bandits out that way, which should be no issue for three genin and an ex-ANBU jounin.

Team Seven enters the civilians' waiting room to find the man who requested their services and Ryouma calls out, "Is there a Master Bridge-builder Tazuna here?"

An old man with a gray beard and a bottle of shouchuu in hand lurches to his feet and casts a judgmental eye over Team Seven, "That it? Just a bunch of brats?"

Ice crawls up Ryouma's spine and he stands ramrod straight, ( _he's been dead for twenty years, and this man has all the wrong angles in his face_ ) but his voice still manages to be placating, "That's all a C rank pays for, sir. Mind you, I'm coming along too. Unless you'd be willing to wait here another day or two for a two-man chuunin squad?"

"Fuck no, I'm in a hurry. You're already packed, I hope."

"Yes, sir. My whole team is," it is taking an unfair amount of Ryouma's effort to stay pleasant. The rest of Team Seven exchanges a glance.

"Then let's get the hell out of here. I've got a deadline to make."

* * *

While traveling to the Land of Waves, Ryouma continues to insist that his genin practice chakra control by climbing trees. They agree with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Sakura, who has a natural talent for precise control, always leaps at the chance to hang upside-down from tree branches. She'd make a great medic some day, and Ryouma tells her so, resolving to teach her what he knows. Sasuke and Naruto could both use some more practice and Ryouma wishes they'd put half as much effort into becoming better shinobi as they do to trying to one-up each other. Tazuna watches these proceedings, unamused, and bitches and moans the whole way to Wave. Ryouma has half a mind not to throttle him. Traveling with a civilian is so achingly slow, and all he really wants to do is stretch his legs a little.

Ryouma keeps constant vigilance, sending his chakra out every so often. He's not a sensor type, but his range is still pretty decent compared to most jounin. Most of what he senses is animals, with the occasional civilian presence that never nears to thieve anything. Towards the end of the journey, his patience is wearing thin and he's running on a few hours of sleep at most.

"I'm telling you, Sasuke, frogs and toads aren't the same," Naruto whines.

"Why not? They're both the same shape, and some frogs are warty," there's a smile at the edge of Sasuke's voice.

"Toads are poisonous," Naruto sounds very exasperated.

"Some frogs are poisonous, too."

Sakura pipes up gleefully, "Naruto, he's just messing with you. And if both of you don't shut up, I'll do it for you."

Ryouma thought he was going to have to intervene, but the two boys actually _listen_ to Sakura, staring ahead with grim determination. Well, there's a first time for everything, and after the first time they were on the receiving end of one of her chakra-lined punches, he doubted they were raring for another.

In his almost prideful distraction, he missed the Mist growing thicker around them, but he notices it in time to think _Fuck Kiri_ before a man with the familiar bandages around his face and the Executioner's Blade strapped to his back materializes in front of him.

Ryouma has never been so glad for Kakashi's Bingo Book drill sessions as he has right now.

"Momochi Zabuza," Ryouma drawls, flashing handsigns to his team behind his back. _No fight, protect. Extreme danger._ Or, in other words, get the fuck out of here as soon as you see an opening.

Zabuza snarls, "Konoha. Stop interfering," and tries to break Ryouma's guard to get to Tazuna. Apparently, Ryouma isn't famous enough to get added to Kiri's Bingo Books, which could serve an advantage if he plays it right. He resolves to not use his specialty jutsu unless Tazuna is out of sight. It wouldn't do to have the civilian piss his pants now, just before they reach their destination.

Zabuza is faster on his feet, but Ryouma can blur through hand seals faster than every jounin he knows, except Kakashi. He finds a nice tree, 150 meters away in the bordering woods, and pushes chakra _through_ , landing the other four in his party far away from the fight. Hopefully, they're not as bad at translocation as he is.

Ryouma barely manages to unsheathe his kodachi in time to deflect what would've been a killing blow. He bends and sways like bamboo, trying to get far enough away to be able to drop his sword and perform the _Naizou Tokasu no Jutsu_ , but Zabuza follows him doggedly.

"All Konoha-nin are fucking cowards," he says, sneering, "Cut the shit and fight me."

"Aw, Zabuza-kun, I thought we were just having some fun," Ryouma teases, knowing it'll get a rise out of him, and perhaps distract him enough to find an opening.

Unbridled rage flashes in Zabuza's eyes and he hooks Kubikiribōchō to his back to fly through rapid hand seals. He peels off a water clone that arrows out to find the rest of Team Seven at the same time as Ryouma's hands light with that disturbing red-black glow.

Suddenly, Zabuza collapses, senbon in his neck and arms, and a slight hunter-nin hefts him over his (her?) shoulders. There's a distant sound of water splashing as the clone dispels.

Well, not a hunter-nin, unless Mist's dress code has loosened up since he's last seen it. Ryouma's gaze tracks between the green haori and the porcelain mask, featureless except for a swirling red line and Mist's insignia.

The other ninja speaks in a low alto, or a high tenor, "Thank you for providing a distraction, Konoha-san. Kiri will be delighted to have this deserter back." A one-handed sequence of seals, Mist swirls up around them both, and they vanish.

Ryouma remembers Zabuza's Bingo Book entry mentioning that he traveled with a small boy. Could that have been him? Well, there would be time to puzzle it out after the mission was completed. He extends his chakra-sense and sprints to where he senses his team to be, roughly in the exact spot he left them.

His three genin turn to look at him with varying emotions on their faces, ranging from scared shitless to disappointed.

"Why'd you substitution us away from all the fun, sensei?" Naruto's lower lip pouches out, like he's a toddler that lost his lollipop.

Sasuke rolls his eyes, "Didn't you recognize that shinobi, you idiot?"

"S-class missing-nin Momochi Zabuza. The Demon of Kirigakure," Sakura breathes. It's the first time Ryouma has seen her so rattled.

"So what? We could've taken him, and Ryouma's ANB-" Naruto abruptly cuts off his sentence under Ryouma's sharp glare, "Uh. Whoops."

Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose, Sakura smacks Naruto upside the head, and Tazuna, well, Tazuna looks about the same as he usually does. Disdainful. Only a fair amount of the alcohol blush that usually blotches his cheeks is gone, drained away to pale his face, instead.

"You're a babykiller?" Tazuna manages to rasp.

Ryouma drums his fingers on his thigh, " _Was,_ " he says emphatically, because that cover is fucking blown, "Naruto-kun, you might wanna retake that class on protecting classified information. Let's get the hell out of here before any other Mist bastards try to behead me."

* * *

Team Seven is treated to dinner at Tazuna's house that night with his daughter and grandson.

Ryouma decides it's best to just cut to the chase, "Why's an S-class missing-nin trying to kill you?" he asks Tazuna, and all of the civilians in the room tense up.

Tazuna sighs, "You noticed that, huh? I'm trying to build a bridge to connect the Land of Waves to the mainland, but the local rich jackass, Gatō, wants to keep the market closed so he can continue controlling it. He's hired all sorts of mercenaries to try and keep me from doing my job."

"You realize that just shot this mission up to at least an A rank classification, right?"

"No shit, sherlock. Why d'you think I clocked it as a C rank escort mission? I can't afford anything higher than that."

Ryouma buries his face in his hands and mumbles something like, "You're sending my kids on a suicide mission."

* * *

Early the next morning, Team Seven escorts Tazuna to the construction site, where the bridge is about half-finished. Ryouma thinks that it would've been easier to hire a demolition squad, but he's never been rich. Probably Gatō gets turned on from controlling so many shinobi, or something.

As if on cue, a dense Mist begins to settle around them and this time, Ryouma is ready. He'll save the dispersement jutsu for when he can use it to get an upper hand. For now, his priority is protecting his three students and Tazuna.

Instead of coalescing into one figure, two shinobi appear out of the Mist. Momochi Zabuza, this time flanked by his nameless young partner.

Ryouma groans internally. This mission just keeps getting better and better. He signs _stay back, Manji formation_ to his team and flicks through the seals for his Naizou Tokasu, hoping for a cleaner end to the fight. He runs at Zabuza and sends out a burst of putrid chakra, which hits him on the left side of his ribs. Zabuza managed to dodge, but not quite in time.

Zabuza doesn't seem to be that affected by his lungs rotting inside of him, and the last time Ryouma saw a shinobi like that, Kakashi roached his coils trying to take him down.

The young boy seems to have vanished, until Ryouma sees that Sasuke is trapped in a dome of ice mirrors, Sharingan activated. Naruto and Sakura are still flanking Tazuna, and Zabuza is nowhere to be found in the thickening fog. Ryouma grits his teeth and reaches for his water affinity, which is flowing all around him here in the Land of Waves, and moulds some of his fire into air. _Ram, Dog, Ox, Ram._

Immediately, he forms another jutsu, his Nikutai Hakai. Zabuza's chakra is so huge that he'd probably drop in ten minutes or less once Ryouma gets hands on him.

Many things happen in quick succession. The Mist clears from the bridge. Ryouma's hands glow with sickly chakra and he starts running towards Zabuza. Naruto and Sasuke are both unconscious ( _or dead, please gods don't be dead_ ) in the field of ice mirrors, full of senbon like two human pincushions. Sakura sprints towards them, just as the boy leaves his weird torture dome.

When Ryouma's jutsu makes contact, it's not with Zabuza's gut. The young boy made it just in time to protect his master, shoving away Ryouma's killing hand. He collapses to the ground, left hand sloughing away, and screams.

The fight seems to have amassed an audience of Gatō and his other mercenaries.

"Momochi!" Gatō calls out, "You said a genin team would be easy pickings, but your weapon is dying," the boy's screams reach a new pitch and he finally passes out as if to emphasize that point.

Zabuza snarls, "I can finish this-"

"No, you can't. You're fired."

Rage lives in Zabuza's eyes as he glances between the young boy and Gatō. His killing intent flares, seeming to take on a shape twice his size, and Ryouma doesn't quite shudder.

"Since I'm not being paid to kill you anymore," Zabuza tips his head towards Ryouma, "I've got no good reason to."

 _The Demon of the Hidden Mist was **sparing** him? What the fuck._

Zabuza peels off to perform another massacre and Ryouma sprints to triage his team, using a water jutsu to sluice the rot from his hand.

Both Naruto and Sasuke are still alive, just unconscious, the senbon blocking key chakra flow points. Ryouma lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. They're both easy enough to rouse by removing the blockages and sending pulses of chakra through their systems. That kid has aim. Or, well, had, considering he's missing a hand now.

Sakura watches over Ryouma's shoulder and throws her arms around her teammates when they come to, "You're both so stupid. Don't ever make me think you died again, got it?"

Tazuna appears unharmed, if a little shaken at the continuous background noise of murder.

Ryouma pats Sakura's shoulder, then solemnly goes to see about the young boy. The rot has spread exceedingly slowly, only taking his left hand, so far. Ryouma unsheathes his kodachi and amputates the rot, leaving a clean wound that he immediately slaps healing hands over. While the boy's flesh knits back together, Ryouma mulls over the fact that he rots the arms off of too many Kiri-nin. He wraps the boy in a foil blanket and looks up to see Zabuza slice Gatō's head off with the Executioner's Blade.

It looks like Ryouma's rot is finally starting to take effect when Zabuza staggers towards him, clutching his side, and collapses to his knees. A few drops of rain begin to fall.

"What the fuck jutsu did you use on me?"

"Naizou Tokasu. It's been melting your internal organs for about half an hour, now. T'be honest, I'm surprised you're not dead yet."

"Is there any way to-"

"No," Ryouma says with cold finality.

Zabuza nods, accepting his fate, "Can I see him, one last time? Haku?"

"I dunno if moving him will be the best idea. He's a little shocky right now."

Zabuza's head snaps up, "He's alive?! But I saw him get hit with your rot! Stop fucking with me, Konoha."

Ryouma looks over at the unconscious heap of foil blankets and says, to no one in particular, "If you amputate before the rot reaches the chest, there's a good chance of not dying."

"All you Leaf-nin are so fucking soft," Zabuza scoffs. His breath is coming short, now, and he's got to be in unimaginable amounts of pain.

"You're the one who wanted to see his corpse in your death throes, but I'm the one who's soft for snagging a prisoner for Intel?"

Zabuza snarls, then coughs, blood and black slag staining the bandages on his face, "Don't you dare fucking hurt him."

Ryouma's eyes soften a little, and he speaks quietly, "I've got no intent to. Konoha...might have other opinions, depending on if he cooperates. I'm sorry."

"Fine," Zabuza tilts his face up into the drizzle, exposing the hard line of his throat, "End it, Konoha."

The sounds of an argument becoming heated remind Ryouma that his three genin are still here. He supposes that no time would be a particularly good time for this lesson, but while they're here, they might as well.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura. C'mere. I've gotta show you something," he says as he pulls out a syrette of morphine from his kit and injects it into Zabuza's thigh. The Demon shivers, but some of the tension in his shoulders eases.

They slink over, side-eyeing Zabuza, who is kneeling completely unguarded. Naruto and Sasuke both look a little queasy. The rot stench is starting to become pretty potent.

Sakura is the first to speak, "Ryouma-sensei, are you going to..."

"Yes," Ryouma looks down at Zabuza, "Do you want me to tell your kid, Haku, was it? D'you have any words for Haku?"

Zabuza's voice is even more gravelly than usual, "Tell him he's a good kid," he coughs again, and shudders, "And...tell him I loved him, even if I wasn't good at showing it."

He looks gravely at each of the kids in turn, "Us shinobi, we're just human, despite everything we learn otherwise. Don't forget that."

Ryouma flicks through seals that look like they should belong to a healing jutsu, but no green glow surrounds his hands, "Ready?"

Zabuza laughs shakily, more red and black staining the bandages on his face, and looks towards the sky, "Fuck no, but I'd rather not lay here as I turn to compost."

"Watch," Ryouma tells the genin. He places a hand at the back of Zabuza's neck and pulses his chakra once. The man is breathing, and then he isn't, and Ryouma brushes a hand over his unseeing eyes, closing them. He also hooks the man's dogtags over his head and places them around his own neck, joining his and his mother's set.

Sakura's mouth is a thin, hard line. Sasuke, finally feeling like it's safe, turns around and vomits quietly onto the concrete. The smell is finally too much for Naruto, and he runs about five paces away to do the same.

When he returns, Naruto looks up at Ryouma with tears in his eyes, "I didn't tell you, Ryouma-sensei, but I met Haku in the woods the other day. He was so pretty that I thought he was a girl, an' he said that when you have someone precious to protect is when you become strong. D'you think that's how Zabuza-san was able to kill all those guys?"

Ryouma remembers the look of seething anger on Zabuza's face, the pain in his eyes at seeing Haku unconscious, "Yes," he says decisively.

His hindbrain scrapes up another memory, from his first year in ANBU. Raidou, who had gone into a berserker rage when he thought Katsuko had died, and still managed to come back around and keep the team focused enough to survive the rest of the mission.

"I like them, 'ttebayo, even though they were our enemies," Naruto fidgets, expecting a reprimand.

Ryouma surprises him by closing his eyes, lifting his face to the rain, and saying, "Me too, Naruto-kun."

He lets himself sort his memories into boxes before standing up and pointing a finger at Tazuna, who appears to have loosed his bladder in fear anyways, "There a telegraph station anywhere near here?"

* * *

 _Code Frozen Leaves: Mission successful, unexpected non-civilian casualties, severely injured prisoner. Evac requested, but not required. Cleanup required._


	4. High, Haku

The response comes two hours after the telegram was sent out. _No evac teams available._

Ryouma sighs and thanks the operator. Of course there's no one available to evacuate a genin team, they're all busy setting up for the chuunin exams. He hoists the unconscious boy up over his shoulder and Team Seven crosses the bridge to the mainland. This is going to be a long journey back, and Ryouma knows he definitely doesn't have enough morphine to last Haku the whole way. Maybe he should've just given him the mercy stroke.

They pass by Tazuna's house while his daughter, Tsunami, is tending to her son.

She stands up to greet them, then bows, "Thank you for protecting my father, shinobi-san. Can't I invite you to stay for dinner?"

Ryouma shakes his head, adjusting his cargo to a more comfortable position, "Sorry, I need to get him to a hospital as fast as possible. D'you happen to know a way quicker than running?"

Tsunami tugs on her ear, "Follow the path behind my house. There's a river just east of here that runs north. It's where all the shipping boats go. I'm sure you can barter your passage if you run into one."

"Thank you," Ryouma nods at her in acknowledgment. Team Seven breaks off at a brisk pace, but he finds he has to keep cutting his strides short so he doesn't overrun his genin.

A small river barge is moored at the docks, making its final preparations before castoff. The genin let their shoulders sag in relief and Ryouma strides towards the ship captain, putting on his most amicable face.

"Hello, sir-taichou, I'm sorry to bother you, but we need to get this boy to Konoha as quickly as possible. He's badly injured, see. We'll stay out of your crew's way, and I can offer you something in compensation," he smiles hopefully.

The captain smiles back at Ryouma, giving him a quick once-over, "I require no pay from Konoha. Unless you were offering something else...?"

"Tempting, but I've gotta take care of him and make sure he doesn't go into shock or get an infection...or try to hop overboard. Also, my boyfriend is kind of the jealous type."

"A pity. Well, the five of you can bunker down in the cargo hold. Meals are at six and noon. I'll send for you when we're parallel to Konoha."

"Thank you so much, captain," Ryouma bows, which looks a little awkward due to the fifteen-year-old strapped to his back, and ushers Team Seven below decks of the ship.

Ryouma unseals the scroll that contains his bedroll and blankets and lays the kid down on them. Naruto collapses face down onto a burlap sack of rice, Sasuke sits cross-legged on the floor, and Sakura hovers behind Ryouma, eager to learn how to be a medic.

"Niisan's gonna be mad at you for flirting, Ryouma-sensei," Naruto says, voice muffled.

"It got us a ride home, didn't it?" He replies as he takes a syrette of morphine out of his medkit, hands it to Sakura, injects 5cc's into the boy's left shoulder, then caps the syrette and hands it to Sakura as well.

"Write 'Haku' on that, and get out some clotting gauze, please?"

Sakura does as told.

Haku's eyes flutter open as Ryouma unwraps the old bandages, and he gazes blearily up at him, "Za-san? W'happen? Where're we?"

Ryouma feels like he's been punched in the chest, but he forces his voice to stay even, "You got injured and captured. I'm a field medic, so I'm going to do what I can."

"Oh," Haku's brow furrows, "I can't feel my hand."

"Any pain?" Ryouma carefully keeps Haku's wrist out of his line of sight as he inspects the wound. It's not infected or septic, thank the gods, but blood still seeps from it.

Haku looks like he's trying to move fingers he doesn't have anymore, but the morphine must be starting to work because he responds, "Doesn't hurt."

"Good. Sakura, be ready with that gauze. Haku? I'm going to use a healing jutsu on you. It might feel a little weird, and if it's too uncomfortable, tell me," he flicks through hand seals and sets the green glow deep into the flesh of Haku's stump, healing from the bottom up, until there's angry, purple skin stretched over most of the open wound. He slathers on antibacterial cream and wraps it in fresh gauze.

"Mm, you don't hafta do this," Haku's face has a sweaty sheen to it.

"I want to," Ryouma takes a blood pill out of his hip pouch and presses it into Haku's right hand, using chakra to heat up his canteen to just above body temperature, "Eat that, and then drink as much of this as you can. You lost a lot of blood, back there."

Haku takes the pill and drinks the water without complaint. The color is already starting to return to his cheeks, and he settles back into the blankets, asleep within seconds.

Ryouma exhales harshly, sitting back on his heels. He burns the used bandages to ash and washes his hands with a water jutsu.

"So, kids, what d'you wanna do for the next day and a half? I brought cards."

* * *

At around 0545 the next morning, Ryouma rouses his team, who had pushed their bedrolls together and slept in a small pile on the floor. It was like a sad little sleepover, Sasuke curled up in on himself at Naruto's side, Sakura's head pillowed on his stomach. They all look like it's been a while since they got a good night's sleep. Ryouma ushers them up to the deck, where breakfast will be served, and manages to finagle himself a cup of strong coffee, two sugars. Too bad cream doesn't keep well without refrigeration.

When he goes back below deck, Ryouma doses Haku with the second 5cc's of morphine and clips the spent syrette to the kid's belt, since he doesn't have dog tags. At first, this strikes Ryouma as strange, considering Haku wears a Kiri hitai-ate, but maybe he ditched his when Zabuza became a missing-nin, if they were together then. Trying to rouse him is a bit of an ordeal, but he finally wakes up when Ryouma holds a cup of strong coffee under his nose. Haku gags, covering his mouth with his hand and stump.

Ryouma smiles wryly, "G'morning. Not a coffee fan, I take it?"

Haku shakes his head and tries to sit up, "What's going on?"

Ryouma helps him up and props his back against the wall with a folded blanket, "You've been sleeping for almost a whole day. I woke you up to get some fluids and food in you - it's about ten minutes 'till breakfast. After that, feel free to sleep the rest of the trip to the hospital. How's your pain, by the way?"

"I'm okay, but I still can't feel my hand. Thanks for being so kind to me," Haku's lip quavers.

"It's the least I could do," Ryouma forces himself to hold the boy's earnest gaze, then looks away when he changes the subject, "What're you hankering for? I'll try'n get food you like."

"I like plums! And tamago... Sometimes Zabuza-san would get me plums, if we had the ryou. Peaches are good, too."

Haku watches Ryouma peel off a shadow clone and send it to get food, then murmurs, "Do you know where he is? Is he gonna try to get me back?"

Ryouma stiffens, then says carefully, "I don't want you hurting yourself. I'll tell you if you let me restrain you."

"I'm not a child." There's a shadow in Haku's eyes.

"No, but you're a shinobi from an enemy village. I'd be dumb not to tie you up."

Haku wordlessly holds out his arms, obviously accepting of his fate. Ryouma takes some of the rope he found and straps Haku's right arm to his right thigh, hand pressed flat so he can't make hand seals. He leaves the injured arm alone.

Ryouma takes a deep breath, feeling like he owes it to Haku to look him in the eyes as he does this, "Zabuza's dead, kid. One of the blows from my fight with him kind of destroyed his internal organs. He did manage to kill Gatō and all his minions, though," his voice goes soft and quiet, "He asked me for the mercy stroke. I made sure he didn't suffer."

"I...failed," Haku's slight shoulders are shaking and he seems to notice his missing hand for the first time, "I couldn't protect him. I wasn't strong enough."

The clone comes back and sets a plate with two plums, a hardboiled egg, and a packet of Sriracha by Haku's feet, "The kids are managing," it says, "Though Naruto's breakfast choices suck."

Ryouma has a brief flash of inherited memory as the clone dispels itself - Naruto with a plate full of korokke, his teammates' disapproving looks - then addresses Haku again, "Zabuza had some last words for you, too."

Haku's head snaps up, "You must tell me what he said. I'll carry out his wishes, I swear it."

"Eat, first. It's probably been more than a day since you put food in your stomach," Ryouma takes out a clean kunai and slices the plums and egg into bite size pieces. Haku regards them warily.

"Fine," he says eventually. Ryouma uses chopsticks to feed him and he politely declines the Sriracha for his eggs. The whole thing is very undignified.

Ryouma sighs, "Alright, Haku. Zabuza told me to tell you that you're a good kid, and he loved you, even if he wasn't good at showing it."

"Zabuza-san thought I was good?" Haku looks at his lap, "He loved me...and I still disappointed him."

Haku looks on the verge of a crying meltdown and Ryouma hastily tries to unkick the puppy, "He also left some advice that we all should probably remember. Us shinobi are only human, despite everything we learn otherwise."

That only kicks the puppy again. Haku breaks down into full, chest-heaving sobs, "So...so it was inevitable, then? If all I'm going to do is fail, you should've just killed me! I'm more useless than Sriracha!"

Ryouma decides to ignore that last comment and snaps his fingers in front of Haku's face, which startles him enough to get him to briefly stop crying, "Hey, listen to me. If you were always good at everything, you'd never learn anything. D'you know how many fish I exploded before I was able to do basic wound closure?"

Haku wipes his nose on the back of his left sleeve, "Two?"

"No. Try two hundred. But I kept trying, and now I'm certified Field Medic Grade Three. The way I see it, you can learn from this, or just feel like shit about it."

"You said a bad word," Haku laughs a burbly laugh, "Za-san swore a lot, too, but he always got upset when I did it."

"Think of it this way - he would've wanted you to live."

Finally, that seems to strike home. Haku sits up a little straighter and bows his head slightly towards Ryouma, "I won't disgrace his memory, Konoha-san."

"My name's Ryouma," he smiles tiredly. How did this turn into him giving his prisoner a pep talk, as if he's not going to be sent to TI? All he can hope is that Konoha sees the value in Haku and decides not to fuck him up too badly.

* * *

After lunch, Ryouma lies down on the hardwood floor, head pillowed on his jounin vest. The last time he slept was over a day ago, at Tazuna's house. the last time he got restful sleep was even longer ago. He sets up two shadow clones to guard with enough chakra to last them through the late afternoon, when they should be approaching Konoha.

Any well-trained shinobi knows how to fall asleep quickly, but the chattering of his team diverts his attention away from meditation.

"We should talk to him, 'ttebayo," Naruto whispers.

"You heard Ryouma-sensei, he could be dangerous," Sakura replies.

"He just looks depressed to me," Sasuke observes, "He's more likely to hurt himself than one of us. We should probably make sure he doesn't do that."

There are sounds of agreement and shuffling across the floor as the genin push their blanket pile closer to Haku. Ryouma probably should intervene, but at this point? The clones will tell him if he has to wake up.

* * *

Sakura just hopes that Ryouma-sensei doesn't yell at them for talking to their prisoner. She makes it her first task to check under the bandages for infection. When all that meets her is mottled skin, she puts on new ointment and dressings and sighs in relief.

She sits back on her heels and realizes Haku is watching her blandly, pupils just pinpricks in his dark eyes.

"Uh, hi? I changed your dressings for you. There's no infection, so that's a good sign."

There's a bit of an awkward silence, which Naruto interrupts by asking, "What's it like, missing a hand?"

Haku looks like he's retreating into his thoughts and Sakura thinks he's not going to answer before he says, "It's shit."

The three genin gasp and Naruto gives Haku an admonishing look, "You've gotta put five ryou in the swear jar, now."

"Ryouma-san swears. Are you going to make him pay also?"

"No..." Sasuke says with slight hesitation, "He never swears in front of us. You must be special."

"Then I'm special, too," Naruto preens himself, "Ryouma used to swear in front of me, but then he became our jounin-sensei and he doesn't anymore."

Those idiots.

Sakura whacks them both, but it doesn't have the same power it usually does, "You idiots, we shouldn't be trying to get our sensei to swear. Hokage-sama will have his hide if he finds out."

"Sorry, Sakura, but I don't think Dad minded before, dattebayo..."

Haku turns his blank look on Naruto, brows almost raised in shock, "You're the Hokage's son?"

Naruto rocks back and forth, "Yeah. It's no big deal. He's like any other dad that's really busy, but I know he cares about me a lot because of all the hard work he puts into keeping the village safe."

"He must be very strong, then," Haku muses, yawning, "To have that many people who are precious to him."

Naruto flushes red with pleasure. Haku's right hand strains against the ropes, like he's reaching for something. Both Sasuke and Sakura notice, but they have drastically different reactions. Sasuke pulls a kunai out of his holster, which is a tremendously stupid idea, in Sakura's opinion, so she elbows him in the side to let him know what she thinks.

"Can I get you anything, Haku?" She tries her best to keep her voice from sounding patronizing.

He yawns again, frowning, "If I wasn't tied up, I could untie my hair myself." He giggles weakly at that, though there was nothing remotely funny about that sentence.

"If you want, I could take your hair down for you," Sakura offers.

Haku blinks, apparently startled by the offer.

"Okay," he says, plainly. Then, "thank you."

Sakura reaches up, undoes the tie, and takes off the peach cloth holding Haku's hair in place. He visibly relaxes as his hair cascades over his shoulders. It makes him look much younger, somehow.

"Now we can be friends," Haku says matter-of-factly. "My friends should braid my hair."

That's a strange comment to make. Sakura glances at her teammates, shrugs, and separates Haku's hair into three long plaits, one for each of them. Naruto scoots closer and eagerly takes on this new activity, while Sasuke has to be dragged over. All genin know how to do multiple kinds of knots and braiding hair is just one way to keep fingers limber.

Between the three of them, Haku's hair doesn't take long to put in loose braids, but he's still asleep before they finish, a small smile tugging at his lips.

* * *

The ozone feeling of dispelling chakra rouses Ryouma, and he's hit with parallel memories of various ship tasks, a weird conversation about swearing, then the ship captain, intrigued but not surprised about Ryouma's doppelgängers, informing them that this curved section of the river is as close to Konoha as they'll be getting.

He sits up, rubbing sleep from his eyes, and pops a caffeine tab before he notices Haku's hair has been taken down from its bun and now falls in three even braids. The boy himself is fast asleep, but his brow is shiny with sweat. Time for more painkillers. Team Seven is playing cards in the middle of their blanket pile.

Ryouma shucks his vest back on and doses Haku with another half-syrette of morphine. Haku's face relaxes slightly and Ryouma gently shakes his shoulder to wake him.

"Rise and shine, kiddo," Ryouma says softly, then addresses the whole group, "Time to pack up. We've got an hour's run to Konoha, 'n then you'll all probably be debriefed."

Haku attempts to roll himself off of Ryouma's bedroll, but Ryouma gets there first and gently lifts the kid over his shoulder, pulling the Kiri hitai-ate over his eyes, "We're gonna have to blindfold you, sorry. Can't have you knowing where Konohagakure is, just yet."

Team Seven makes good time on the run back with the idea of home and rest driving them forward. The sun is setting when they pass through Konoha's gates, long shadows throwing the faces on Hokage Mountain into sharp relief.

Ryouma gives the password to the jounin squad leader at the base of the wall, who regards Haku with practiced disinterest and waves them all into the care of harried medics. Two of them, a Hyuuga and a young, fresh-eyed kunoichi lift Haku off of Ryouma and lay him in a stretcher before they translocate away, probably to the medical facility in TI.

Ryouma looks up at the darkening sky for a brief moment and wills his fears for the child into line before Team Seven is pushed through the hospital doors and met with more fussing medics.


	5. Teamwork and Interrogation

Ryouma slogs through his own rapid physical before watching his team get examined one-by-one.

The nurse, Riku-sensei, looks up at him in surprise, "None of them have more than a scratch!"

"Yeah, well, I'm just doing my job. Can they go to their homes and sleep, now?"

"No sleep for you, sensei?"

"My team comes first, sensei," Ryouma frowns, "They've had a hard mission."

"Alright, you all can go. Anaji-san told me to tell you all to report to the missions office at 0800 for debriefing."

"Yes, fine. Thank you, Riku-sensei," Ryouma bows and escorts his team out into the cool night air.

Even Naruto is strangely quiet as Ryouma drops off first Sakura at her small civilian home, then Sasuke at the Uchiha compound, then him at the Hokage's Palace.

"Are you doing okay, Naruto-kun?" Ryouma kneels to get on face level with him.

"Yeah, I just...is Haku going to be okay? T&I is scary. What if they cut off his other hand?"

Ryouma beats back his own fears and puts a strong hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Konoha would be dumb not to see the potential in Haku. If he cooperates, and I'm sure he will, then there's no reason to hurt him." Physically.

Naruto's tense shoulders sag, "I guess you're right, sensei. See you tomorrow?"

"Of course," Ryouma stands, ruffling Naruto's hair, "Now go inside and go to sleep."

Normally, Naruto would complain, but it's a testament to the difficulty of the mission that he slips inside without another word.

Ryouma jogs back to his and Kakashi's shared apartment, undoes the trap seals, unlocks the door (a pointless thing, locking it in the first place, when any ninja worth their salt knows how to pick a lock), and leaves a trail of clothes to the empty bed. Kakashi must not be back from his mission yet. Ryouma drags his thoughts away from Iebara and missing-nin with demon chakra - Kakashi is a veteran now, on a team with other veteran ANBU. He trusts them all to handle any challenges that come their way. He has to, or he'd never sleep at night.

He doesn't sleep much, that night.

* * *

Anaji Shenzou is a busy, busy man. Between caring for his daughter, Etsu, who graduated to genin over a year ago, making time for his husband, Keitaro, and keeping track of every low-level mission that comes through Konoha's gates, it's a miracle if he has time for things like sleep.

Well, that's what caffeine tabs are for. If he squints, the spots in his vision might almost be the stars outside his window. As he sorts files, a mindless task, he thinks about the distress call that Tousaki sent out two days ago and wonders what, exactly, went so wrong. Tousaki _did_ manage to bring back his entire team, this time, so it can't have been as bad as...

He rubs his thighs, laughing without humor, "Now's not the time to think about that, Shenzou," pushing the thought away as he slides the filing cabinet drawer closed with a satisfying _thunk_.

* * *

Despite waking up before 0600 every day on mission, Team Seven looks haggard when they stagger into the Missions Office at 0755. Only Ryouma, ex-ANBU and trained in making the best of absolute unqualified disasters, manages to look cool and professional in his jounin blues, the dark circles under his eyes the only tell that he isn't sleeping well.

"Mornin', Anaji-san. If I didn't know you better, I'd say you tried to get my genin killed." The corners of Ryouma's mouth tug in a smile.

"What makes you think you know me well enough to make that decision?" Shenzou raises an eyebrow, "You don't need an escort to the debrief rooms, I assume?"

"I dunno, we might get lost," Ryouma's smile widens. Joking is good, joking is comfortable. It's certainly not thinking about Haku.

"Considering you just returned from a successful escort mission, I think you four can handle a walk down a hallway to find rooms twelve through fifteen."

Ryouma bows steadily, "Thank you, Anaji-san. Say 'hi' to Etsu-chan for me. She's taking the chuunin exams, right?"

The slow blink is the only surprise that shows on Shenzou's face, "Yes, she's been training with her team for the past two weeks, but enough chitchat. You're all late, now."

"Good luck to her," Ryouma nods and herds his team towards the debrief rooms.

* * *

Four hours is nowhere near the longest debrief Ryouma has ever had, but it doesn't help that he can't write well, so in lieu of copying every detail himself, he dictates to whoever drew the short straw. Or the long straw, depending on sexual preference.

The rest of his team isn't in the lobby.

"Went out for Ichiraku," Shenzou explains without looking up from his paperwork, "You just missed them, but I think they wanted to be alone for a little bit, anyways."

"Thanks," Ryouma says sheepishly, "I don't suppose you have a genin messenger on hand?

* * *

Genma spits, wipes blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, then drops back into a fighting stance, "Again."

Raidou shakes his head, laughing, then straightens, eyes trained on something over Genma's shoulder. Genma turns quickly to see two genin with their hitai-ate tilted at opposite and rakish angles and eerily similar outfits. The Nazumi twins, then.

Raidou bows deeper than is strictly necessary for genin, "Message for one of us, Masahiro? Tenko?"

Tenko, a plucky young girl with cropped short hair, is the first to speak. She and her brother trade off speaking in a way that seems practiced, but isn't.

"Both of you."

"I had Shiranui-san's, and Ten-chan had Namiashi-san's."

"So when ANBU HQ told us you were both here..."

"We came together. The message is the same, anyways."

Genma and Raidou share a look. Genin messengers are usually sent when someone's apartment burns down, or something similar.

"It's from Tousaki Ryouma," says Masahiro, a cheerful young boy with a long ponytail.

"Team Seven had a really difficult mission," Tenko continues.

"He requires a debrief."

"Meaning - he wants to meet you both for lunch."

"Preferably somewhere with beer," Masahiro adds sunnily.

Raidou chuckles, "That's our Ryouma."

The crease between Genma's brows relaxes and he sticks a senbon in his mouth, "Tell him we'll meet him at The Cellar in thirty. Thank you, genin-san."

Masahiro giggles and the corner of Tenko's mouth quirks up in a self-satisfied smile. They bow simultaneously and tear back down Hokage Mountain towards the Missions Office. Neither one of them jockeys to be in front.

"Genin-san?" Raidou levels an amused look at Genma as they strike out towards the ANBU barracks' showers.

Genma clacks his senbon between his teeth, "I like seeing them get flustered, it's cute."

They take expedient showers and start down the mountain with twenty minutes remaining.

"What do you think happened on that mission that's so bad Tousaki wants to drink with us?" Raidou says, keeping his eyes on the path.

"Honestly? I'm sure anything I come up with is worse than what actually happened. I just hope he got everyone home in one piece."

* * *

By the time the twins get the response back to Ryouma, he has twenty-five minutes. Enough time to run back to his apartment, take the world's shortest shower, and change into civvies - distressed jean shorts and a Shuriken Force tee.

Ryouma shows up at the Cellar with five minutes to spare. Upon a cursory examination of the restaurant, clocking the exits and potential threats, he spots Raidou and Genma in a circular booth towards the back. Neither of them have drinks yet, so they must have just arrived.

He sits across the table from Raidou with Genma between them and rakes a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. The waiter shows up before he has time to speak, however, and waits patiently with his hands behind his back. Ryouma gestures for his former commanding officers to order first.

"I'll have a Rising Tide," Raidou says, which earns him disgusted looks from Ryouma and Genma both, "Why are you guys pulling faces?"

"Rising Tide? I haven't had that shit since I was, like, twenty. And _poor_. C'mon, taichou," Ryouma teases, "I'll pay, so you can splurge, if you wanna."

"What if I told you I just like the taste?"

"And what if I told you you're wrong? But fine. I'll have a Happy Pils. Oh, and some tempura. Tempura always goes well with beer."

Genma's senbon twitches as he stifles a laugh, "Ever the nutritious one, Ryouma."

"Hey. I've had a hard two weeks. Which I'll tell you about, once you order."

"Sure. I'll have a Barley Motley and enough edamame for the table. A growing boy needs his vegetables."

The waiter nods and whisks away to the kitchen, clearly having no need for a notepad.

"You don't really mean that, Genma, 'f I grow any taller, I'll be scraping my head on the ceiling."

A small round of laughs runs through his former commanding officers, but the reason for this meeting weighs heavily on Ryouma's shoulders. Their beer and food is brought out, and Ryouma takes a long swig before he speaks, Genma and Raidou eyeing him expectantly.

"So, I thought taking the kids on a C rank mission might be an exciting change of pace from chasing cats. Was s'posta be just a simple escort, but the damn thing should've been listed as an A rank, at the very least."

Practiced nonchalance lives on both of their faces, but Raidou pushes, "And how does a genin escort mission go _that_ badly?"

Ryouma laughs darkly, "A lying client, outside business interests, a rogue Kiri-nin, and his traumatized student? You'd think I, or one of my team, pissed off one of Genma's bodhisattva."

Raidou lets out a low whistle and Genma makes a religious looking hand movement before saying, "I should hope not. They're pretty hard to piss off, being enlightened and all."

"How much else do you know about the mission?" While ANBU keeps secrets from outside eyes pretty well, there's little that doesn't get passed around within the organization.

"Heard you got a Bingo Book kill, but not who," Raidou sips his shitty beer.

"That rogue Kiri-nin? Momochi Zabuza." Raidou chokes on his beer, but Ryouma continues, "Hit him with my _Naizou Tokasu_ , but he didn't even stumble until after he massacred his rich employer and his entire army of mercenaries. I did the _hissatu_ maneuver on him and made the kids watch. They were all pretty fucked up over it, but they held it together the whole way back. At least, better'n the other kid..."

Raidou is still coughing, so Genma gives him a rough pat on the back and asks, "Other kid?"

"Yeah," Ryouma says, drawing the word out, "I kinda...rotted the hand off of the kid who was traveling with Momochi. It's Fukuda all over again, only ten times sadder."

"Ah, you did mention an apprentice," Genma pops some edamame into his mouth, "What is he like?"

"Honestly? Scary as hell. I thought he killed Naruto and Sasuke both, and he's got Ice Release, so I'm pretty sure he's Yuki. Wouldn't tell me his surname, but I don't blame him. He was on morphine the whole way back, so kept bitching about spicy food and cried when Naruto told him his nail polish was pretty. Otherwise, he's completely loyal to Momochi and has a metric shit ton of self-esteem issues."

"He's in T&I right now," Raidou says. It's not a question.

Ryouma grimaces, "Yup. I hope he's just in 'I', if we're keeping it 100. Poor thing doesn't need any other trauma piled on."

"I don't know, Ryouma, if he's still loyal to Momochi, he probably wouldn't give up any information unless they pry it out of him. One handed enemy-nin are dead weight without any intel," Genma muses.

"See, that's the thing, he was pretty much only using one hand to cast jutsu. Kid could still have a promising shinobi career, if he wants it. Konoha'd be stupid not to see it."

"How old is he?"

"I think he's fifteen, but he's so malnourished and small that it's hard to tell. I don't think Momochi was neglecting him, if that's what you're thinking, cause he was pretty rangy too. Muscled, but not a spare ounce of fat on him."

Genma swallows. "Do you think Momochi-"

Ryouma cuts him off, "No. Haku didn't have that look in his eyes. It was more like...like he lost a parent," and Ryouma knows that feeling all too well.

Raidou can't help the sound that escapes his lips. "What, like Momochi was his Dad?"

"It sounds fucking weird, I grant you that, but his last words for Haku were basically, 'He's a good kid. I love him, I regret not telling him.'"

There's an awkward silence as Raidou and Genma consider a man who slaughtered his entire graduating class raising a child.

Ryouma clears his throat and finally takes a bite of his tempura. "So, other than that train wreck, Team Seven is becoming semi-functional. Naruto and Sasuke have a lot of potential if they'd just stop having goddamn dick measuring contests. Sakura is keeping the two boys in line and I'm training her to be a field medic."

"The student becomes the teacher," Genma says with a smile.

"You've come a long way, Ryouma," Raidou reaches across the table and places a firm hand on his shoulder.

Warmth crawls up the back of Ryouma's neck and they spend the rest of their lunch together talking about more frivolous things. Ryouma almost forgets he was ever worried, but everything comes crashing back in when he returns to his apartment and it's still empty. He puts on the first Five Rings movie, even though he has it memorized at this point, and tries not to think about knocks at his door.

* * *

Haku wakes up in a room with a soft carpet and peach-colored walls. Slowly, the rest of his surroundings filter in: three ficus plants, landscape paintings on the walls, and an IV in his arm. There's also a well-used leather chair with a nightmare sitting in it. Haku tries to scramble back, suddenly alert, but he's restrained to the gurney. His breath comes more quickly.

The monster in the chair laughs softly, "Hello, Haku. I was hoping you'd entertain me to a conversation."

Haku swallows and wills his breathing to slow. The thing in the chair is not a monster, but a man, with acid scarring so bad it seems to have melted half of his face. Somehow, that's even more frightening.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Shibata Tomohiro, and I'm head of T&I here in Konoha. Would you like a mint?" Shibata offers a large bowl of candies.

"No, thank you," Haku regards the bowl warily, "Why bother interrogating me, sir?"

Shibata sets the bowl back on the adjacent table and pops a mint in his mouth, seemingly unoffended by Haku's rude behavior, "You're sharp enough to know we still have use for you, else why set you up in such a lovely hospital bed?"

"I'm one-handed. I can't show you my jutsu even if I wanted to." A pounding headache starts crawling up the back of Haku's neck.

"I appreciate honesty, and I will get it from you. Now, do you want to repeat that, or would you like to read the mission reports? I'm sure you wouldn't accuse a loyal veteran of lying, would you?"

Haku stares at him with the cool fearlessness of someone with nothing left to lose. "If you've read the reports yourself, why ask? Sir."

"I like to double-check my work. Nothing's true unless it's corroborated by at least a few witnesses. Even if you can't demonstrate your jutsu for us, you're still useful..." Shibata allows the tiniest bit of interest to show on his face before it's sheathed again.

The sudden flicker of heartbroken eagerness on the boy's face would probably be distressing, if Shibata cared. He does feel pity for this damaged, rootless child, but it's a long way away from his professional attitude. The child's suffering does not make him any less a killer, or any less of an interesting puzzle for Shibata to solve. Likely, more interesting, in point of fact.

Haku's voice is carefully measured, trying not to seem too interested, "What is it you need from me?"

Shibata shrugs. "The truth. Despite what you've heard about T&I, I'd rather not stain the carpet with your blood. It's a pain to try to get out, and lemons aren't in season."

The boy tries not to smile, as does Shibata. A black sense of humor is a very good sign.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to know about Momochi Zabuza. As his charge, you likely knew he was planning a coup, correct?"

Haku nods slowly, even the small movement exacerbating the pain in his head. "He was, but the first attempt failed. We had to flee Kiri, at least until he could make enough money to try again."

Shibata doesn't take notes, he doesn't need to. "Did he have any sympathizers?"

"Yes...and no. A lot of people wanted the Mizukage overthrown, myself included, but Zabuza-san was," Haku searches for the correct word, "Abrasive. Most people wanted nothing to do with him."

"Except for you." Shibata spreads his hands. "Why stay?"

Haku closes his eyes and leans back against the pillow, blinking back tears. "He loved me."

"Oh?" Shibata's face twists in a way that is entirely grotesque.

"Not like that," Haku says darkly, "Never like that."

Shibata hums softly, "I take it you're very strong, to have gained his respect like that."

Haku looks at the stump of his left wrist and murmurs, "Not strong enough."

"Maybe not, but you can become stronger, if you so desire."

Haku's eyes widen, "You'd train me to be a shinobi?"

So hopeful, so eager. Shibata almost regrets how easy this is, and nods. "I will be entirely frank with you. You have a rare and powerful ability. Konoha, as I'm sure you are aware, is in the business of harnessing kekkei genkai, not exterminating them," he pauses for the look of quiet pain that flickers across the boy's face, "but we expect our people to use their abilities for the good of the village. You would be no different."

Haku resists the urge to worry his lip with his teeth, mulling it over. _Useless is worse than dead,_ in his opinion, _but if I can help.._.

He nods once, sharp and clean, ignoring the flash of pain. "I'm up to the task. Sir."

The loss of his hand isn't the loss of his jutsu, but he will have to accommodate in other ways. Maybe he should cut his hair. It's too easy to grab in a fight, and too hard to care for with just one hand. Perhaps he can get faster. Konoha is known for their Yellow Flash- capable of bending time and space to his will. He was kind enough to share his technique with his jounin. Perhaps he will share it with Haku.

Shibata lets his features soften, and it's hardly an act. He's secured an asset for Konoha and ensured the safety of the child. A job well done, in his opinion.

He smiles, knowing Haku won't shy from it. "Then I'm certain we can find a place for you."

Haku runs his tongue over his teeth, wishing for sharper points, but now is not the time to grieve. "When do I start? Where do I start?" He tries to keep the desperation out of his voice.

"As soon as your chakra coils recover, you can report here and we will administer a test. Reading, writing, arithmetic, and then the three major disciplines, just to start. If you value my opinion any, I think you could be a splendid special-jounin, ninjutsu type. Of course, it will be a few months before you get sent on any missions. Konoha will provide you with housing and escorts while you settle in. Any further questions?"

Haku's head spins with the influx of information and his headache threatens to take over. "Yes, sir. May I please have some painkillers?"

Shibata chuckles and stands up, clutching a folder. "Of course. We have no need to torture you, after all."

A shiver shakes Haku's slight frame. A nurse enters as Shibata leaves and injects something clear into the IV line. Haku's eyelids grow heavy and the door clicks shut.

* * *

Ryouma wakes with a start, a kunai already flipping into his hand. The TV isn't on, though Ryouma doesn't remember turning it off. Adrenaline chases sleep from his system and he recognizes Kakashi, standing with the remote in his hand and a bemused expression on a quarter of his face.

"Miss me?"

"You fucking asshole!" Ryouma jumps off the couch and points an accusing finger at him. "Of course I missed you! Do you have any idea the kind of week I've had?"

Suddenly, he takes in the tension strung into Kakashi's spine, the charred bone armor and porcelain mask hanging at his belt. Kakashi must have come straight home from his mission. Ryouma wasn't the only one who had a rough week, from the looks of it, and now he feels like the asshole.

"Here," Ryouma steps closer, speaking softly, "Let me help you out of your armor. Ugh, you need a shower."

"Says the guy who smells like stress took a piss on a pile of rotted entrails." Kakashi makes no effort to move the process along.

"I was _worried_ about you," Ryouma finally unclasps the last buckle and Kakashi's vest falls with a clunk to the floor.

"I can handle myself, Ryouma," Kakashi says, grabbing Ryouma's chin and forcing him to look at Kakashi's face.

Ryouma huffs out a breath. And another. "I had to kill a man, in front of the kids."

The creases around Kakashi's visible eye soften, "It doesn't get any easier."

"But I have gotten better at it," Ryouma says, echoing those words from Raidou all those years ago. "I held it together on the mission. And afterwards. Mostly."

Kakashi's grip moves up, and he caresses Ryouma's cheek, "Get in the shower with me, and we can discuss classified information together. I'll even let you use your fancy soap."


	6. Welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village

After days upon days of questioning, Konoha's T&I department must finally feel like Haku's fifth recollection of Kiri politics and sixth declaration of loyalty are enough, because he wakes up in an extremely bare room, unrestrained. The bandages on his left arm are a lot less thick and though he still feels exhausted, he can also feel his chakra settling into new channels around his missing limb.

Haku extends his chakra-sense (he developed skills as a sensor because Zabuza was very decidedly not one) and tries to get a bearing on his surroundings. An incredibly sleek signature shares the room with him, which he ignores, because of course he's being watched, and is surprised to find very few people inhabiting this large building. There's another streamlined presence on the roof.

Finally, Haku turns to face his handler, who is standing at the foot of the bed, "Hello, ANBU-san. Are there any pressing matters that require my presence at the moment? Because I'd like to sleep, and that would be a very boring watch for you."

The woman's hair falls in long, dark curls and she wears a leopard's face for a mask. Her voice betrays no emotion, "You should eat, Yuki-san. I've taken it upon myself to stock your fridge. Feel free to help yourself."

"How do I know you didn't poison my food?"

"That would be a treasonous act, as Konoha has granted you asylum and a promising career as a shinobi. Plus," the woman dissolves into thin air, only her breath remaining on Haku's neck, "I have easier ways to cause you pain, if it should come to that."

Haku shivers at the same time as his stomach growls. He realizes just how hungry he is and the genjutsu dissolves, revealing the woman already cooking an omelet on the small gas range. Well, when all else fails, politeness and looking pitiable tend to work for him. He gets out of bed with great effort and stands near his freaky guardian, watching her add vegetables to the eggs.

"What would you like me call you, ANBU-san?"

"Leopard is fine. My rotation ends in two hours, though, and the others aren't nearly as pleasant as I am. Hound especially likes to play with his food before he eats it." She punctuates that with a flick of the wrist, flipping the omelet over and catching it neatly in the pan. Haku swallows.

"Thank you, Leopard-san. May I ask a few questions?"

"You may," she hums, slipping the omelet onto a plate, "So long as you eat."

Haku sighs, conceding to that, and carefully carries the plate over to the squat table underneath the window. There's already a chopstick set, so he digs in and finds the food surprisingly delicious, if a little more seasoned than he prefers. Leopard-san watches him at parade rest.

After he's eaten about half of the egg, he comes up for air. "How come this apartment is so empty? I can't really practice fitting in if there's nobody to fit in with."

"Konoha is busy hosting the chuunin exams. In addition to the jounin that are out on regular missions, a fair amount have been tapped to run the exams. Anyways, you should be focusing on recuperating, right now. Perhaps you could take advantage of the gym next door, once your exam is administered and you get your registration number."

Haku has trouble deciding what to ask next, so he settles on two questions. "Is Kiri participating? And...you seem really sure that they'll instate me as a special-jounin. I don't think I'm that strong."

He shovels more omelet in his mouth and blinks back tears. Slowly, the magnitude of what he's just done is settling in.

"Kirigakure did not send a delegation, and my opinions on your skills as a shinobi hold no import. Yondaime-sama will make his decision with the village's best interests at heart."

"Of course, Leopard-san." Haku finishes the egg and tries to quell his mounting anxiety. "Do you...happen to know what happened to Zabuza-san and Kubikiribōchō?"

She regards him for a moment. "I believe that Tousaki 'took care' of the body. There wasn't much left, anyways. Kubikiribōchō, as far as we know, is missing."

Haku bites back a snarl, at the wrongness of it all, the indignity. He takes a deep breath through his nose. "If you don't mind, may I shower? It's...been a while."

"As long as you're aware I have orders not to leave you by yourself. If it helps, I can mask my presence and we can both pretend I'm not there."

Haku, much more afraid of being left alone than of someone watching him shower, responds a little too quickly. "No! It's fine. I might need help with my hair, anyways. I'm not supposed to get my bandages wet, am I?"

"No. Keep your arm dry until all of your medic appointments are completed."

Haku nods and moves over to the dresser, where many sets of jounin blues, all his size, have been prestocked. Konoha seems to have a lot of faith in him. Weirdly, warmth curls in his stomach, quickly chased away by the more familiar shame at his betrayal of Zabuza-san. There's also a sealing scroll in the drawer, which Leopard-san informs him contains what little belongings were his before he was captured, minus the sharp objects, of course.

In the bathroom, Haku turns on the shower, strips off his scrubs, and throws them in the trash without ceremony. His greasy and matted hair tickles his back and he shudders. Leopard-san has politely turned her back to rummage through the medicine cabinet.

When the temperature of the water is to his liking, Haku steps under the spray, letting it wash over him. There's a bottle of unscented shampoo and a bar of unscented soap. He reaches for the shampoo, first, but he can't quite manage the bottle with one arm. Haku hands it over to Leopard-san, who deftly pops the cap and pours some shampoo into his hand.

Haku quickly finds that one hand is not nearly enough to handle all of his hair. It's too matted, and the shampoo isn't strong enough. His right arm drops back down to his side and he just stands there, shoulders shaking.

"I can help, if you want." Leopard-san still isn't looking at him, but her fingerless gloves are off.

Haku shakes his head. "No, thank you, this weak stuff won't cut it."

"A kunai might." There is no humor in Leopard-san's voice. She seems like a woman who would value her hair, and understand the implications of what she's suggesting.

"Okay," Haku says numbly, and against all his better judgement and shinobi training, he lets her set a kunai at his neck and shear off a half meter of hair.

The lightness in Haku's head is countered neatly by his heavy heart. He vigorously scrubs his now chin-length hair and washes his body before shutting off the water and shucking on the jounin blues. They're surprisingly light on his skin, probably to account for the summer heat.

Haku ignores his guardian, who is trying to push painkillers on him, and crawls back into bed. He curls protectively around his missing hand and his chest heaves with sobs for his hair, which was precious because it was one of the few things Zabuza-san allowed him to have. For being weak and mutilated, for giving up his loyalty to Zabuza-san for temporary comfort. For being orphaned, again, with no one who loves him like Zabuza-san once did. For being a teenager who's had a hell of a fucking week. Haku doesn't care that Leopard-san is watching. He hopes the Hokage knows what kind of monsters he makes into jounin-sensei, who go around rotting people and pretending they're still on the right side of things. He hopes he dies before he has to report back to T&I for his exam.

The shifts change, and a man with a paintbrush of silver hair and a lion-dog mask takes over for Leopard-san. He leans against the wall looking generally disinterested in Haku's tears.

Haku screams his lungs out, because nobody cares about him. He doesn't dream.

* * *

The next day, Leopard-san wakes him at 0530 with the smell of okonomiyaki.

"Breakfast?" She deadpans, "You're going to need your strength, today."

Haku mumbles some choice phrases about where she can stick her strength and retreats into the bathroom. He combs his hair and puts on a freshly ironed set of blues. To Leopard-san's approval, Haku finishes his okonomiyaki and takes an ibuprofen, then brushes his teeth. He refuses to look at his reflection in the mirror.

The two of them leave the apartment building as the sun rises over Konoha. Leopard-san hooks her left arm in Haku's right and translocates the two of them to the front of the T&I building. Haku clasps his hand over his mouth and barely manages to keep his breakfast down.

When it's clear Haku isn't going to vomit, Leopard-san drags him inside the gray, windowless building. He's surprised to find a normal looking lobby, with the ever-present mints. They don't stop there, though. Leopard-san continues leading him through a door and down a concealed set of stairs. The ceilings are higher on this lower floor, and they pass dozens of identical doors before Leopard-san finds the one she is looking for, opens it, and escorts Haku inside.

The room currently contains a small desk with a thick packet of paper and a pen on it, which looks out of place considering the rest of the room looks like a sort of small gymnasium.

"I will be proctoring the written portion of the exam, as well as the genjutsu test," Leopard-san states blandly. "You have two hours to demonstrate your knowledge of basic reading, writing, math, chemistry, and physics. You may ask questions, but I can't guarantee my answers will be helpful. Good luck."

Haku starts to write his name on the cover, _Momochi Haku_ , but he crosses it out and writes _Yuki Haku_ instead, since that was what Leopard-san called him.

The first three sections are relatively easy. Haku read a lot in his spare time, he practiced calligraphy when he worked on finger dexterity, and Zabuza-san felt that math was one of the most reliable things to know. Haku's eyes blur with tears for a moment before he blinks and continues. His chemistry is a little shaky, but thankfully this test is only on the basics, what a jounin would realistically know if they hadn't gone any further in each subject. The electricity portion of the physics section gives Haku a bit of trouble, but he can't be expected to know that much as he spent most of his life without it.

Haku sets his pen down, stretches his hand out, and gives the packet to Leopard-san. He wonders when the next segment of the test is going to start, before he realizes it already has. Zabuza-san was not good at genjutsu, so he didn't feel the need to teach much to Haku. Thankfully, Haku's sensing ability allows him to feel the gentle blanket of Leopard-san's chakra over him.

He shapes his hand into a seal that feels right, feels like a _push_ and _lift_ , and calls a firm _Kai_. Leopard-san is no longer standing in the room with him.

Her voice seems to come from all sides of the room. "Good, but can you do better?"

Haku can't feel her chakra, this time. His hand sweats, and he rubs it on his pants. This genjutsu is seamless, but he doesn't want to deplete himself trying to break it. Stamina was never his strong suit, with such small reserves. This time, he forces a little of his own chakra into the push. The room ripples, but doesn't break.

"Is that all?" Leopard-san sounds the slightest bit disappointed.

Haku's mouth is dry. He licks his lips. "Yes. I don't want to flatline myself before my ninjutsu demonstration."

The room shimmers and then shatters. Leopard-san is standing in the same spot as before, but the exam booklet is gone. She probably delivered it in the time he was under the genjutsu.

"Can you cast a genjutsu for me?"

"I can try, ma'am, but I can only manage a small concealment for a short period of time. It's better for escaping undetected. Zabuza-san didn't bother teaching me the finer points of it. He is- was- more of a ninjutsu man. I'm sorry."

Leopard-san lets that hang in the air for a few seconds. "In that case, my portion of the exam is up. Hound will be proctoring the remainder and escorting you home, where Monkey will take the overnight watch."

She turns on her heel and exits the room, quickly replaced by a tall, slender man with a lion-dog mask and silver hair. Haku thinks that he could've come up with a better codename for this man than Hound. Ice queen, maybe, considering how indifferent he was to Haku's tantrum the previous night. He feels his ears heating in shame, but there's no time for that.

"Stand up." Hound commands, falling into a ready stance.

Haku scrambles out of his seat and has just enough time to think, _shit_ , before a fist meets his face and his face meets the floor.

Taijutsu is another one of Haku's weaknesses. _Good, get those out of the way_. He dodges and weaves before taking another hit. This time, he stays on his feet, hooking his left arm around the one punching his chest, and he flips over the other man, landing a glancing kick to his shoulder before Hound flashsteps away.

"I thought this was a taijutsu test?" The words leave Haku's mouth before he can stop them, and he's pinned to the floor.

"It is," Hound growls, "I'm just that fast. Surrender? Or do you think you can caress my shoulder again?"

"I don't surrender, but I do pick my battles," Haku tries to wring every ounce of intent he can out of his teenaged voice, "Taijutsu is not something Zabuza-san was inclined to waste his time on with me."

Hound almost seems to give him a reproachful look through the mask, before he backs off, letting Haku push himself up. When Haku is standing again, Hound speaks.

"I hope he at least taught you ninjutsu, or Tousaki brought home nothing but a shattered ornament."

Haku takes a deep breath, willing himself into calm and forcing his killing intent down. It wouldn't be wise to pick a fight with an ANBU, even if an ANBU is picking a fight with him.

"I think you'll find," Haku begins, forming a senbon of ice in his right hand, "That is something I excelled in."

Hound's head tilts inquisitively and Haku can hear the smile in his voice. "Good. I was beginning to think Konoha was wasting its time."

The next fight is shorter and dirtier. Hound and Haku are almost matched for speed, but Haku is just a fraction slower. It could be attributed to a number of things- his age, his shorter height, his malnutrition, so on and so forth. He makes up for it by having ice everywhere, laying trails and driving Hound into a small dome of ice mirrors, which, to Haku's great pleasure, he can't translocate out of.

Unfortunately, Haku is reaching the edge of his chakra reserves. He cuts the mirror jutsu, but not before pincushioning Hound with ice needles, or at least attempting to.

To Haku's smug surprise, Hound didn't leave the dome entirely unscathed. Senbon are embedded in his left shoulder, leaving it disabled. There would've been more, but the armor protected most of the important spots.

"Not bad, kid." Hound says, looking slightly over Haku's right shoulder, as if compensating for a missing left eye. Interesting.

"Though," Hound continues, pulling needles out of his arm, "I bet you almost flatlined yourself doing that, right? What are your reserves at?"

"Ten percent," Haku admits.

"Well, no one ever got turned away for having to resort to soldier pills. You have heard of them before, right?"

"No..."

"You'll learn soon enough, then." Hound flicks a kunai at Haku, which he catches in his right hand.

The next segment of the test is weapons. Hound seems to be cognizant that Haku is still technically recovering from recent major surgery and chakra exhaustion, so he just asks Haku to demonstrate what he knows on a dummy, and deems him proficient, even down a hand. The only weapon which Haku continues to perform above average in is senbon.

Hound then sits cross-legged on the floor and pulls out two rat bars and two canteens, offering one of each to Haku, who takes them warily.

"You're about two-thirds of the way done," Hound says, vanishing the food behind his mask.

"What's left?" Haku talks with his mouth full. He may be polite, but he has no manners.

"Plant identification, map reading, you know, the more useful things when you're on a mission and not fighting."

"Oh, good, I know how to do that." Haku relaxes a little bit, but tension still tugs at every fiber of his being, telling him how much of a traitor he is. He ignores it, and shows Hound what he knows.

* * *

Despite Haku's protests, Hound translocates the two of them to the front of the apartment building. Haku doesn't throw up, but this time he's prepared. He finds that he actually almost enjoys the thrill of moving at such high speeds.

Monkey is already waiting outside of Haku's door for the turnover. He's a short man with gravity-defying blonde hair, though Haku is sure it's gel.

"Good evening, Hound." Monkey says cheerfully. "Off to get debriefed? You might want to remind them where your belt buckle is."

"Save it for someone who appreciates your humor." Hound scoffs, and makes an abrupt exit.

Monkey turns his attention towards Haku, "I'll bet you 500 ryou that he complains to Tousaki about me."

Haku can't help the wry twist of his mouth as he pushes open the door to his apartment and takes a seat at the table. "I'd take that bet, but I don't have any money and I don't know Hound well enough to say if you're just teasing me."

"Smart of you. I'll take a rain check. I'm always recalculating the odds, anyways."

Monkey perches himself on the opposite chair and gives Haku a calculating look, "Well, Princess, what's the plan for tonight?"

Haku blushes at the nickname. "I was just going to eat and then go to bed."

"Food, I can do. You sure you want to sleep right away? I've brought a deck of cards. We can play Go Fish, if you want."

"I'm not a child." Haku glowers. "But some company would be nice. You talk a lot, for an ANBU."

Monkey shrugs and leaps off the chair to search the fridge. "And you talk a lot for a quasi-prisoner. We all do things to pass the time."

"I suppose. When should I expect the Hokage's formal response?"

"By tomorrow evening, most likely. He doesn't like to leave threads hanging." Monkey seems to find what he's looking for and starts making a curry on the stove. It smells really good, making Haku's stomach rumble. Pancakes and rat bars isn't really a sustainable diet.

"Thank you, Monkey-san," Haku says when the plate of food is placed in front of him, with its sibling held in Monkey's hands as he eats behind a veil of genjutsu.

It's a little too spicy for his delicate taste buds, but he refuses to complain when someone has been so kind to him.

"Do you think they'll take me?" Haku asks his curry.

Monkey makes an incredulous sound. "Do _I_ think they'll take you?"

* * *

 _"And what about the Yuki child?" said Minato, perusing the files on his desk and glancing up at Shibata. "Asset or liability?"_

 _Shibata shrugged and seesawed his hand, "Aside from the attachment problems, mood swings, effects of long-term emotional abuse, and clear death wish? He's a fine shinobi."_

 _"There are ninja in Konoha right now with worse," said the ANBU captain from his perch on the windowsill. "Being cracked down the middle can be an asset, too, if we hone the edges right."_

 _Minato paused his shuffling through the boy's file to give him a dry look. "You want his bloodline, Sakamoto."_

 _"It's a good bloodline, and he's a good ninja." Ginta protested. "Tomorrow's exam will show that. Leopard and Hound are going to be his proctors. They- and the other ANBU who have been nursemaiding him everywhere- all say the same thing. He's obedient, yet sharp. And you've got to admit, it'd be nice to have the last Yuki on our side. He could even sire a child, if we resort to unconventional methods."_

 _"Thoughts about potential offspring aside, this is all assuming Kiri doesn't want him back," said Shibata, playing devil's advocate._

 _Ginta clicked his tongue. "You're behind the times, old man. My friends in Water Country Intel have informed me that Kiri is undergoing some restructuring at the moment."_

 _"Terumi," said Minato, and Ginta nodded, monkey mask catching the light of the setting sun oddly. "So she finally got her revolution, and Momochi's, by extension. I never much liked the bastard who had the hat during the war. Perhaps it might settle Haku's nerves to know that his guardian's goals have been achieved, after all."_

 _"Word is Karatachi's the one who initiated the kekkei genkai massacres. I have money on his head being on a pike before the month is out," said Ginta brightly, and a laugh rippled through the room._

 _"But you can assure me that the boy has no loyalty to Kiri," said Minato, addressing Shibata._

 _"None whatsoever," said Shibata evenly. "Many of his former countrymen maintain that he's better off dead, and he is well aware of that. I led with his flaws only because they are considerable. Abandoning this opportunity would be like leaving a samurai's blade in the rain because the hilt is rotted."_

 _"So, he's salvageable," Minato said._

 _"Tousaki already removed the rotting hilt. It's our job to replace it and polish the blade. And in three years..." said Ginta, a cruel smile in his voice._

 _"He is a dangerous little brat, isn't he?" Minato said. "Not full-blooded Yuki, but Intel assures me he's the best we can get. It would be foolish to let him slip through our fingers...the worry is that we'd be sitting on a time bomb. Let's give him a day, and the exam. I want a personal assessment from you, captain. Shibata? Go eat some of your wife's anpan. You're both dismissed."_

 _The other two men turned to go, but Minato spoke up again, and they tensed for a hammer strike. "Though there isn't much room for sentiment in these sort of decisions, Kiri failed Yuki Haku. Momochi, too, in a different way. I want Konoha not to. See to it that he has friends."_

 _Shibata bowed deeply, and Ginta dropped into the full shinobi's kneel, "Thank you, Hokage-sama. You have my word. My actions are soon to follow."_

 _"Good," Minato sat back in his chair, "Now, scram. Naruto has missed dinner with me often enough, this month."_

* * *

Haku looks up at Monkey, waiting for an answer, or a reprimand.

"Between the two of us," the man finally says, "Hokage-sama gave you an awfully nice apartment for someone he's bumping back to genin."

Haku snorts and rolls his eyes. "That would be a promotion for me. I was never made genin."

Monkey spreads his hands in explanation. "Then you have nothing to be afraid of. You'll make history as the youngest active duty shinobi with only one hand."

"I don't desire fame. I want to become stronger."

"Hmm," Monkey sounds amused. "I might suggest hitting the gym and drinking some protein shakes."

"You're the second person to tell me that," Haku groans.

"Because it's true! You'll have to exercise that left arm, anyways, unless you want necrosis to set in."

Haku's pale face gets even paler and he looks down, poking at the remainder of his curry. He can't help feeling that he doesn't deserve the kindnesses that these strangers have shown him. Even Hound, in his own way, was kind to Haku.

Suddenly, Monkey chakra-walks onto the ceiling and looks at Haku upside-down, "Aw, kid, cheer up. Survivable injuries are hot in a ninja village, and if you don't want to play cards, I have some other things that might be entertaining."

Haku looks up at him in surprise, lip trembling, then bursts into throat-wracking sobs, "I... Why are you being so _nice_ to me?"

Monkey's shoulders straighten, all joking leaving his posture. "Obviously, Konoha desires your skills as a shinobi. Why would I be going out of my way to make you hate your future comrades? Do you think you don't deserve a second chance?"

"No, I don't!" Haku shakes his head violently, shuddering. "I failed, I'm crippled, I'm your enemy! Why bother?"

"Haku." Monkey drops down from the ceiling, actually sitting in the chair, and ticks off on his fingers. "First, failure is a fact of life, and due to this glamorous career, it can sometimes have disastrous consequences. That's why we train, to minimize the possibility of making mistakes in the field. Second, your missing hand hasn't hindered you that severely from doing well on your performance assessment."

Then, Monkey fixes Haku with a glare that could bore through concrete. "Do you want to be our enemy? Because that can be arranged, and my subordinates and I would be required to treat you no better than the other shinobi in T&I's basement."

Haku sucks in a breath through his teeth and presses his fist into his thigh. "I don't want to be, but I'd _understand_ it. Nobody ever looked at me like I was worth anything except for Zabuza-san."

But that wasn't true, was it? Naruto had been kind to him in the forest, before that disastrous day. The three genin had talked to him and kept him happy during his drugged stupor. Even Ryouma, despite killing Zabuza and rotting Haku's hand off, had gentle healing hands and warm, concerned eyes.

 _"We could be friends, if things were different."_

 _"How's your pain?"_

 _"I like your nails! You should do mine when we get back home."_

Haku takes a deep breath and forces himself to look Monkey in the eyes. "No, that's not true. Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan were nice to me on the boat. They wanted to be my friends."

"Do you want to be friends with them?"

"Yes," Haku says slowly, and then more affirmatively, "Yes. I do. Okay, I'll try to stop making people upset with me. And then..." Haku swallows the lump in his throat. "And then I'll be the best one-handed shinobi Konoha has ever seen."

Monkey hums in satisfaction and pulls a small, wrapped pastry out of his belt pouch. "Daifuku? It's mango flavored."

* * *

Haku awakens the next morning to the sound of small voices chattering. He rolls over, still cradling his injured arm, and cracks one eye open. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are arguing in hushed tones about the best way to get Haku's attention.

Hound comes up from behind them and places a hand each on Naruto's and Sasuke's heads, quelling them, "If you didn't bicker so much, you'd notice you woke someone up."

Haku blinks sleepily and tries to find words. "Hello. Why are you here?" He says, and winces. Nice one, Haku.

Naruto grins, his smile brightening up the room like a miniature star. "Good morning! Niisa- I mean- Hound brought us. He said you do nothing but eat, sleep, and train, and that sounds pretty boring, 'ttebayo. So we were gonna come hang out with you and play some games and stuff, if you want."

"Oh," Haku says intelligently, sitting up in bed. "That's very nice of you. Thank you." He stares at Hound for a second, trying to update his mental picture of the ANBU guard to include "Naruto's older brother". Hound, apparently able to read Haku's mind, shrugs.

Haku kicks his feet over the edge of the bed, ready to make a beeline for the bathroom, and is immediately met with a bright red box in his lap. He blinks slowly at it, brain still foggy with sleep. "What's this?"

"It's a board game!" Naruto explains, lifting the lid off of the box. There are six player tokens, a game board, a deck of cards, a timer, and six vibrantly colored pieces of cardboard.

"I've never played a board game before," Haku admits. He slides the box off of his lap and stands up. "If you could excuse me for a moment, I need to wash up."

"Okay! We'll go set up at the table. Can we push it away from the wall?"

Haku shrugs and enters his bathroom with Hound trailing close behind and looking like he'd rather melt into the wall than be here. It's amazing the amount of feeling that he can put into his posture, but Haku is too exhausted to give a shit. He efficiently relieves himself, washes his hands, and splashes cool water on his face, which helps wake him up the rest of the way.

He returns to see Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura spaced evenly around the table, and since he's biased, he chooses to sit between Naruto and Sakura. They're the ones who actually talked to him on the boat, no offense to Sasuke.

Naruto preens, "See, Sasuke? I told you he likes me better."

Sakura reaches around behind Haku and thwaps Naruto on the head, "Stop being mean, we're guests, and this is Haku's home. He's still recovering and probably doesn't want to put up with your antics."

If Haku is being honest with himself, he doesn't mind. Seeing Team Seven argue brings an element of normalcy to his upended life, but he is actually interested in the game, so he asks, "How do you play this game?"

"Oh! Well, you pick one of these little metal weapons to represent you and put it at the start. Whoever can balance a kunai on their finger the longest goes first. You pick a card from the pile, and it'll tell you a body part to chakra-hold these little cardboard things on for a certain amount of time. If you can do it, then you move the number of spaces the card says. First one to the finish wins!" Naruto smiles again, and Haku finds himself wondering how this kid is so happy all of the time.

"It seems like a waste of chakra." Haku's brow furrows.

Hound sits cross-legged between Naruto and Sasuke and says, extremely drily, "It's to help you practice chakra control."

"It can be fun trying to distract Naruto," Sasuke adds.

"Hey!" Naruto pouts, then leans on Hound as if the man isn't ANBU. "You'll play with us, won't you, niisan?"

To Haku's surprise, Hound actually _laughs_ at that, low and deep in his throat. It doesn't sound entirely human.

"If I play, it wouldn't be fair to any of you. I'm content to just watch. Plus, Ryouma-sensei told me that you and Sasuke both need the practice."

Naruto groans and flops back onto the floor. "Ryouma-sensei always tells you everything. Just 'cause you're boyfriends, doesn't mean he's gotta snitch on us like that."

Haku's mouth opens and closes like a fish. The guy who rotted his hand off is dating the guy who is keeping watch over him. Okay, then. Certainly not the weirdest thing to happen to him all week.

Sakura tries to make eye-contact with him. "Your hair was so pretty, Haku. Why'd you cut it off? Or did Hokage-sama make you cut it off?"

Haku deliberately ignores the question and picks up one of the pewter game pieces. "I'll be the senbon, I guess."

Sasuke snorts, "Now look who's bothering him. Let's just start the game, already. I'll take the shuriken."

Naruto shoots up from the floor and grabs the miniature kunai, while Sakura places a katana at the start. They played for a while. Sakura kept a cardboard piece stuck to her nose for a whole minute and both she and Sasuke managed to make Naruto drop his pieces twice. Haku even laughed a couple of times. It was nice, and they promised to visit again, sometime. That was nice, too.

* * *

As Hound escorts Team Seven out, Leopard comes in toting a small tree.

"What's this for?" Haku says, eyeing it warily.

"Housewarming gift," she replies, setting it in the center of the table. "Sometimes it helps, having something to care for."

Haku blushes and ducks his head, beating back the urge to question her kindness. "Thank you, truly."

* * *

Haku wakes with a start and small electric sparks dancing across his skin. He sits up and almost hits an upside-down mask in the face.

"Good morning, sunshine! Yondaime-sama requests your presence. I'll give you ten minutes to make preparations." Monkey sounds like shocking Haku awake is the most fun he's had in a while, and Hound and Leopard stand at parade rest behind him.

Ice runs through Haku's veins and he looks at the digital clock on his nightstand. Red numbers flash 0300 back at him. The Hokage wants to see him? At this hour? Haku swallows and throws back the covers, then runs to the bathroom to change out of his pajamas (another gift from Leopard) and into a new set of blues. He doesn't bother to close the door because one of the ANBU would just have to come in with him anyways.

It only takes Haku five minutes. The three ANBU escort him downstairs and then, instead of translocating, Monkey leaps up to the rooftops. Hound prods Haku in the back and he gets over his shock for long enough to follow. It's been a while since he's been able to run so freely like this, and a giddy laugh bubbles up his throat at the exhilaration.

Monkey jumps down from a roof into a courtyard, and Haku follows. They're standing in front of the Hokage's Palace, walking _into_ the Hokage's Palace, and Haku's heart climbs up into his throat. The motley group weaves through hallways and climbs what feels to Haku like hundreds of stairs until they're standing right outside of Yondaime-sama's office. All Haku can think is a bunch of swear words.

The two ANBU standing guard outside of the Hokage's office push open the doors. One of them is wearing an abstract mask with a blue triangle cutting horizontally across the center of the otherwise featureless porcelain, and the other has what looks like an elephant with red crescents painted underneath its eyes. Haku forces himself to walk through the door, every step feeling leaden.

"Sorry for the awkward time," says the Yondaime Hokage, in a tone Haku doesn't dare to think of as sheepish. "I'd wanted to do this at a reasonable hour, since you've lost enough sleep, but things come up when you run a hidden village."

Haku freezes. The Hokage is apologizing, to _him_.

Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash of Konoha, smiles sunnily at him, and beckons Haku with a hand. "Come here, kneel."

Haku does as he's told, trying to keep himself from shivering all over. The Hokage's chakra presence is like standing next to a small sun. He isn't sure if he wants to bask in it, or flee in terror of being burned. He doesn't let himself do either, as the Hokage starts speaking again.

"I've heard a lot about you, Haku," and Haku feels like he's being rotted alive again for a second, before the Hokage continues, "and I'm impressed."

Haku can't help it; he looks up at Minato, incredulous, and the Hokage grins down. He's a little younger than Haku had expected, and his eyes are exceedingly blue. Having all that keen attention fixed on him feels like grabbing a live wire.

"You've made the best of a lot of bad situations. That's valuable. You're clever and skilled. That's valuable too. And when your endurance and your cunning and your skill are not enough, like they sometimes are for all of us..." (Haku holds his breath, waiting for a reprimand) "...you rely on your desire to protect what's important to you, and you let that make you strong. That's what's most valuable of all, in my estimation."

It is very nearly his own words, spoken back to him. Haku remembers Naruto, and wonders if he had told his father about him. If he had, Minato must have listened. Something warm settles in his chest.

"Konoha can use a shinobi like that," says Minato, voice all praise, and Haku half-wonders if he's being manipulated before discarding the thought. This isn't a speech - Minato is just telling him, like he's already a trusted subordinate, and he has a sense the Hokage speaks to everyone like that. It feels...nice.

"Normally, I don't do this myself," says the Hokage, taking a step back to pick something up off his desk. "Though I'd like to swear in every genin personally if I had the time..." Haku must look disbelieving again, because Minato laughs quietly. "I would! I like to know the people I command. But here, I'll let you tie it on yourself."

The hitai-ate placed in his hand seems to be made with the same materials, same texture, same weight. Only the crest is different, but so much else had changed.

There's a set of dog tags underneath the hitai-ate, as well. _That's useful_ , Haku muses as his identifying information gleams back up at him under the soft glow of incandescent bulbs. He'd never been important enough to be identified, before.

 _YUKI HAKU_ _REG: 012629_ _DOB: 01/09/S-27_ _O-NEG_

Haku swallows, willing himself not to be upset in front of the Hokage, ties the knot at the back of his head with his right hand, and settles the light chain around his neck. When Haku is finished tucking the surprisingly warm pieces of metal under his shirt, he looks back up at Minato.

Minato's face does something complicated for a brief second, so fast Haku barely catches it, and he smiles down at him. "I hope that Konoha can become that something precious for you, that you grow to love it here."

Haku ducks his head in a nod, still not trusting his voice to say anything.

"Stand, shinobi." Haku does, falling into a mimic of the parade rest that he's seen the ANBU do. Minato continues, this time reciting a more formal genin oath. "By taking this hitai-ate, you swear to protect and serve Konohagakure, in the ways best suited to our needs and your abilities. May the Will of Fire bring you strength and courage for the duration of your service."

Haku bows deeply. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

In that moment, he realizes that he would put his life on the line for Minato, just like he had for Zabuza. This time, though, it feels different. He still didn't really have much of a choice, but Minato is the kind of person you want to do anything for, because he's genuinely pleasant. Haku thinks that he probably has that kind of effect on a lot of people, and that is what makes Konoha a force to be reckoned with.

Haku is about to duck out, thinking the meeting is over, but Minato reaches behind his desk and comes up with an army green flak vest. "Congratulations on the speedy promotion," he says, winking at Haku. "Your first task as special-jounin will be Wall Duty at 2100 tomorrow. I recommend you arrive at least fifteen minutes early so you can get acquainted with Chiriko Naomi-san - the jounin commander and your new superior officer."

Haku's knees are weak as he puts the vest on and zips it up. The weight of it is somewhat comforting, but he doesn't dare check the pockets for weapons in the Hokage's presence. He nods shakily and salutes Minato, straight-backed. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Alright. You're dismissed. Go get some shuteye."

* * *

Even past three in the morning, Konoha is bustling with activity. Ninja and civilians alike stagger out of bars, laughing and clinging to each other. Haku can smell about a dozen different things floating up from the street- crepes and alcohol and teriyaki among the most potent - and the entire village just seems so alive. For a fleeting moment, Haku is sad that Zabuza can't be around to see this, but he shakes the feeling off. This is his village now, his home, and he realizes fiercely that he would protect it with his life.

Haku has the best sleep he's had in weeks, that night.


	7. Late Bloomer

Haku spent most of the day sleeping, but he woke up at 1930 to have the leftover curry for dinner. He ties on his hitai-ate and double-checks his vest pockets for supplies. He settles the shuriken pouch on his hip, fastens the kunai holster on his right thigh, and vanishes senbon about his person.

He'd be insulted that Hound is still hovering around him if he hadn't been an enemy-nin under house arrest not 24 hours ago. It makes sense, not to give Haku total free reign, and he hates it.

Hound escorts Haku to the bottom of the Wall, where he leaves him to the clutches of the jounin commander. "Good luck, Yuki. Chiriko-san's hard to impress."

Haku nods at Hound and chakra-runs up the wall, and nearly gets his head taken off by a startled kunoichi. He ducks and grabs her wrist. She quickly gives him a once-over and smiles, relaxing out of his grip.

Haku sizes her up, as well. She has a glinting smile, silky red hair tied in a high tail, and tan skin. Haku also estimates she's at least a foot taller than he is. Her chakra signature is a warm neon light, like the ones in the storefronts downtown. He's surprised to sense it so readily; it's not a particularly large or forceful signature. Then he realizes that's because she's not bothering to hold it in. The ANBU had their chakra pulled in close around him, like they would around an enemy, and he'd gotten used to the limited feel of it. His commanding officer is relaxed, and her bright chakra nudges subtly at his awareness, along with the similarly unrestrained signatures of shinobi further down the wall. He supposes it's because he's trusted now. Weird. He tamps down his senses before the brightness starts to annoy him.

"So you're my new victim! Welcome to Wall Duty, kid. I'm Chiriko Naomi, jounin commander, and you should really flare your chakra when you're coming up here. I'd hate to have to explain to Yondaime-sama why there's kekkei genkai blood on my tanto."

"My apologies, Chiriko-san," Haku says, bowing. When he comes back up, she has a look on her face like she's holding back a laugh.

"That's Chiriko-taichou to you, and you don't need to bow, I'm not the Hokage. A salute is fine."

Haku grits his teeth and draws out a sharp salute, "Yes, Chiriko-taichou."

"Better. You a sensor? What's your range?"

"Eight hundred meters, give or take." To Haku, that sounds pretty good, but he's not naturally a sensor.

"No point sending you up in the tower, the moment you sense anything we'll be in for a fight anyways. You eat and sleep before coming here?"

"Yes. I'm not stupid, sleep and energy are paramount to my performing my duties adequately."

"Don't be fresh. You've gotta spend all night with me, and I doubt you want it to be more unpleasant than it has to be."

Haku looks down at his shoes, ashamed.

Naomi snaps her fingers in front of his face, "Hey, acknowledge when your commanding officer is speaking to you. They really weren't kidding when they said you weren't formally trained, huh?"

"No, si- ma'am. If I may ask, what exactly are we doing here?"

"Keeping the village safe. We're the first line of defense in case there's an attack." She frowns at Haku. "I didn't say at ease, shinobi. Why are you slouching?"

Haku blushes furiously, anger and shame bubbling up in him. "You said it yourself, taichou. I never received proper training."

"You're smart, aren't ya? Look around and pretend like you grew up here."

Haku exhales slowly and finds a kunoichi to mimic. He stands at attention, eyes scanning his surroundings, but she must've noticed him watching her, because she quickly saunters over and holds out her right hand. Haku shakes it. This young woman is about his height, with black hair plaited in a complicated braid down her back. Her smile is meaner than Naomi's, and her chakra feels like a ball of fire.

"Uchiha Nadeshiko, jounin." She looks over at Naomi. "This the new boy, taichou? He's cute."

"And off limits, Uchiha. He's two years younger than you. If you're going to make friends, do it while you scan the horizon for threats."

To Haku's surprise, Nadeshiko salutes and turns back towards the giant forest of trees that surrounds Konoha. It's dark out, so it's not like they can see much of anything. Haku gives Naomi a delayed salute and also looks out towards where the sun set not two hours ago.

"Where are you from, pretty boy?"

Haku keeps his voice as toneless as possible. She won't be getting anywhere by flirting with him. "Kirigakure."

She lets out a low whistle. "No sharp teeth, though. They think you were too soft for 'em?"

"Only chuunin get their teeth filed."

"But you're special-jounin, aren't you?"

"Yes, now. I didn't even have a rank before this morning. Yondaime-sama promoted me, personally." Haku lets himself get a little prideful, at that.

"Not before demoting your left hand, looks like. Bet you've got a kekkei genkai, right?" Nadeshiko smiles and glances at Haku sidelong, tomoe spinning in the darkness.

"My left hand was missing before TI got to me," Nadeshiko's posture stiffens at the mention of Torture and Interrogation, and something nasty in Haku's stomach curls with pride. "I have Ice Release, which is useful in the summer, here."

"I bet. Once you're older, they're gonna want you to have little snowmen of your own. My clan's already trying to set me up with a husband."

Haku makes a face. "I don't like girls like that, and I don't think I'm fit for raising kids."

Nadeshiko laughs, "That explains a lot. Well, they'll just harvest your spunk and infect some poor kunoichi with it. Konoha's cool about gay people as long's you contribute to the next generation in some way. If you weren't part of a bloodline, they'd probably just insist you adopt some poor orphan kid."

"That seems. Unfair." Haku beats back a wave of nausea. Kiri and Konoha, while different, both have obsessions with bloodlines. At least this one will keep him alive. And his Hyoton is _useful_ , surely it's something good to pass along. He scowls out at the stars, briefly, but the beauty of a clear summer night unwinds a fair amount of the tension in him. Kiri never really got like this. If it wasn't the mist, it was the smog that obscured everything.

"That's business, bucko." Nadeshiko shrugs.

"I'll cross that sea when I get to it, I suppose."

Haku casts out his chakra like a net, not sensing for enemy-nin, just getting accustomed to his surroundings. The Wall feels like, well, a wall to his chakra-sense, as well. He thinks it would be intimidating if he were on the other side of it, but as it is, he feels safe and reassured.

Naomi returns with two cups of a steaming, strong-smelling beverage. "To keep you two awake."

"Thank you, taichou." Haku salutes her and takes the cup, giving it a dubious look.

"Never had coffee before?"

"No, ma'am."

Nadeshiko holds out a handful of sugar packets for Haku. "Here, it can be kind of awful, but people on the Wall just don't appreciate tea enough. It's a tragedy." And just like that, Haku has a new friend. He wonders if there's something he missed in the previous exchange that warmed her up to him.

Haku sets the cup on the edge of the stone barrier and handles the sugar packets with his right hand, pouring them in one at a time. He's not sure whether it's the sugar or the caffeine making his teeth vibrate, but he certainly feels more awake for the remaining seven hours of his shift.

* * *

When the sun is just beginning to peek over Hokage Mountain behind them, Nadeshiko says, "Y'know, I'm turning eighteen in a month, and the ANBU Trials are coming up in October. D'you think if I sign up they won't marry me off?"

Haku laughs quietly, "I doubt it, but you can try. Do you have to be eighteen to try out?"

"Yeah. Don't rush yourself, kid, you only just made special-jounin yesterday, but in two years I'd love to have you as my darling kohai." She smiles sweetly at him.

He smiles back at her, warm and genuine.

Naomi whistles sharply. "Yuki, Uchiha, time to go home! Our replacements are here."

A four-man jounin squad stands calmly on the interior side of the wall. "We're relieving you," the captain says.

Nadeshiko salutes him and Naomi, then cracks a lopsided grin, "We're relieved."

Haku snickers at the pun, then hastily remembers to salute his commanding officer. "Thank you, Chiriko-taichou."

"No problem. Now scram," Naomi says amiably.

Haku and his new friend run down the wall and into town. He doesn't care that much that Leopard is tailing him, the joy of having the rest of the day free is significant enough.

"Wanna get breakfast?" Nadeshiko says as they vault over rooftops towards the jounin apartment block.

"I haven't received my first paycheck yet, so I'd have to pay you back later." Haku grimaces.

"Oh, it's fine! My treat, welcome to the village'n all that."

"That's very nice of you! Are you sure?"

"Of course. C'mon, the bakery's down this way." Nadeshiko tugs gently on Haku's arm to lead him deeper into town.

The bell jingles as they enter, and Nadeshiko yells towards the kitchen. "Shiranui-san! I've brought you a new loyal customer!"

A harried, flour-covered man runs up to the front counter and bows to Nadeshiko. "Uchiha-san. And who might this youngster be?"

"Yuki Haku." Nadeshiko raises her eyebrows as if to emphasize the point. Yuuichi, being a civilian, doesn't understand the hubbub, but he seems to realize there's something significant about that family name.

Yuuichi bows to Haku anyways. "Yuki-san. How delightful to meet you."

Haku blushes. "Just 'Haku' is fine, sir."

Nadeshiko leans over and stage-whispers in Haku's ear. "Shinobi get discounts, and if the day-old's don't sell, they're free." Haku perks up a little, at that.

Yuuichi chuckles and gestures to the pastry case. "What can I get for you, this morning?"

"We just got off Wall Duty," Nadeshiko moans theatrically, "And I'm starving! Do you have anything sugary and fattening?"

"I like peaches..." Haku says quietly.

"Well, let's see." Yuuichi puts his hands on his hips and smiles at the two hungry ninja. "Sata andagi for you, Uchiha-san. As for you, Haku, I have some hakuto jelly cooling in my fridge. You both better take some egg buns, too, shinobi need their protein."

They eat their sweets and Nadeshiko settles up the cost, then they leisurely walk through Konoha's streets to the jounin apartment building that they apparently share.

"You're living here, too?" Haku looks curiously at Nadeshiko.

"Rent's cheaper for a decent room. I mean, I could live in the Uchiha compound for free, but I'd probably die of stress or something. What room are you in?"

"302, you?"

"Oh my gods, I'm just across the hall! Room 307."

A smile tugs at the corners of Haku's mouth. "Maybe I'll stop by, sometime. I'm going to go train, now."

"No sleep for you, kid?"

"Later! I just. It's been a while since I've been swimming, and I hear there's a river nearby? My bandages are finally off, so I can get my arm wet now."

Nadeshiko rolls her eyes, but she's grinning. "You're nuts. Knock yourself out. Actually, don't do that, the rapids'll get you and then I'll have no one to complain about men to."

"I won't! See you around..?"

"Yeah. See you."

She enters the building and he breaks off towards the training fields at a brisk jog. He feels so warm inside, and not because of the sun. It's kind of like when Zabuza-san was pleased with him, but different. Haku can't quite put his finger on what the feeling is, but he wants to keep hanging out with Nadeshiko.

* * *

As soon as Haku reaches the tree line, past the training fields, Leopard materializes and nearly scares the shit out of him.

"Leopard-san, don't do that! I could've died!"

"You're fine, Yuki. If you want to avoid the rapids, you should start heading further north. Do you want me to accompany you, or would you rather be alone?"

"Watch me from the shadows, you mean. But, yeah, I think I'd rather pretend you're not here for a little bit, if you don't mind?"

"Certainly." Leopard dissolves back into the shade.

Haku huffs out a breath and corrects his course, reaching the river after a fifteen minute walk - he's in no rush. He strips down to his black trunks and gently places his hitai-ate and dog tags on top of his folded clothes. He takes five minutes to stretch out his muscles and massage his left forearm. It feels like he's making a fist that he can't unclench, but the medics said that it would take about six months for the phantom pain to go away naturally.

He might never get over losing Zabuza.

Haku shakes his head to get rid of the thought and dives into the water. It's cool and refreshing and all of his instincts come flooding back. Deep down, Haku will always be a Water Country brat, and he cuts gracefully through the water, doing a few laps before deciding to swim further upstream.

Suddenly, he feels a shape that's too large to be a fish swim past him, and he quickly pulls himself up, chakra-walking on the surface and panting heavily. He sits down on the riverbed, then notices a brown-haired woman sitting on the opposite side. She stares at him like she's seen a ghost.

A head of short, navy blue hair crests the water. The child turns around to look at Haku, grinning a mouth's full of shark teeth. He inhales sharply and glances at the woman, wide-eyed. Haku and the woman seem to be equally afraid of each other, now, but the child leaps up out of the water and flops herself down next to him.

"Hi! You're missing part of your arm just like Takedo-'basan was! That's so cool! I bet you're really tough and strong just like she was!"

Haku's brain short-circuits. Blue child. Gills. Shark teeth. "Uh," he says intelligently.

The woman on the other side of the water sighs in exasperation and chakra-walks across the river. Haku notices that she's missing her pinky and ring finger on her left hand. Kiri used to cut off the fingers of people who failed their genin tests, but what would another former Kiri-nin be doing out here?

"Sango-chan, come on, don't bother the poor man. He probably wants to be left to swim in peace."

Haku waves his hand. "No, it's no trouble, really! She's lovely." He looks the young girl in the eye. "Sango-chan, is it? I'm Haku."

"Hi, Haku-san!" Everything the young girl says sounds like she's shouting. "I like to swim! Do you like swimming? I bet you do, you're really good at it, but you don't have gills like I do! Unless they're hidden under your shorts..."

"No gills," Haku replies, laughing. He gives a meaningful look to the woman. "Are you her mother?"

"Yes," the woman says, smiling without teeth. "My name is Fukuda Kimiko."

"A pleasure, Fukuda-san." And it is, truly. "Hoshigaki clan?"

Kimiko freezes, and then pulls her daughter away from Haku, "It's time to go, Sango."

"Aw, why? I was gonna challenge Haku-san to a race!"

"It's okay!" Haku stands up and flashes Kimiko one of the Kiri hand signs Zabuza taught him - _Safe_. "I'm Yuki."

Rage flashes in Kimiko's eyes and she takes a step back, tugging Sango along with her. "Liar. All the Yuki are dead. I left that awful place years ago to live peacefully, without the threats hanging over Sango's head. You can't have her."

Sango's lip quivers and she looks up at her mother. "Mama? Is Haku-san a bad man?"

Haku opens his hand, showing that he's unarmed, and gets down on one knee. He reaches his right arm out towards Sango, and a large snowflake starts to form in his hand. "Yuki," he repeats, and Sango looks at him, her big, blue eyes full of wonder.

" _Pretty_ ," she says, the flake floating away on her breath.

Haku turns his gaze up at Kimiko, and his clothes helpfully appear by his side. Leopard-san is a fucking _saint_. He puts the dog tags around his neck and holds out the hitai-ate for Kimiko to see. "Also - Konoha."

Her face goes through emotions too quickly for Haku to catch before she finally settles on grudging acceptance. "But how?"

"This is a recent development. My father killed my mother when I was six and I had begun to manifest the Hyouton. He would've killed me, too, if I hadn't..." Haku clears his throat. "Anyway, Zabuza-san found me on the street in a snowstorm and took me in, on the condition that I become his weapon. He saved my life. I couldn't return the favor." Haku's left arm twitches, remembering the pain of being rotted alive. He takes a shuddering breath. "So, here I am, an Ice Release user in the Land of Fire."

Sango runs over to Haku and throws her arms around him. He tenses, fighting every reflex telling him to snap her neck, and eventually, he hugs her back.

"You're safe here now, Haku-san. Yondaime-sama will protect us from the Bad People."

 _More like the other way around_ , thinks Haku darkly.

"Momochi Zabuza is dead?" Kimiko says incredulously.

Haku winces and bites back his first three responses, deeming them too unkind. "Yes, Fukuda-san."

"Well, then. I have to admit, I agreed with his ideas, just not the execution." The pun would be humorous, if not for the grim look on her face. "Who did it?"

The wounds are still too fresh. Haku shakes his head, blinking back tears, but answers her question, as the bastard who did it would be getting his payout eventually. "Tousaki Ryouma-san, ma'am."

Kimiko's eyebrows climb up into her bangs. "I assume the rest of the details are classified." Obviously, she recognizes the name.

Haku nods curtly, disentangles himself from Sango, and stands up to pull his jounin blues back on. He yawns, the long night finally catching up with him and too tired to care that his wet underwear is making the rest of his clothes damp. "I'm sure if you ask him yourself, Fukuda-san, he would love to brag about it. I should probably head back to the village, now."

Sango dives back into the river cleanly, then pops her head back out of the water. "See you around, Haku-san. You still owe me a race!"

Haku smiles softly in acknowledgement and leaps up into the trees. He lets his mind wander, thinking of shark-children, and before he realizes it, he's jumping down off of the rooftops in front of his apartment building. He sprints up the stairs, room key jangling from his wrist coils. Haku unlocks his door, kicks it shut behind him, and faceplants onto his bed, sighing.

Leopard speaks from her spot by the door, sounding amused. "Don't you want to take your vest off, at least?"

"No. I'm never moving from this spot," Haku says, voice muffled by his pillow.

"Suit yourself, but you're on Wall Duty again tonight, same time."

Haku groans long-sufferingly and removes all of his gear, making it look like he's raising the sun with the effort. "There. Now may I sleep?"

"You may do whatever you want, within reason. It might cheer you up to know that Uchiha Nadeshiko is assigned for the same shift. Shall I tell Hound to wake you at turnover?"

"That...does cheer me up, thank you, Leopard-san. And, sure, whatever. Just let me _sleep_."


	8. A Day (or two) in the Life

Kakashi stands on the edge of the jounin apartment's roof, right above Haku's bedroom. The teen's chakra smooths under the influence of sleep, and soon afterwards Kakashi is joined by Kurenai. Both of them are neatly hidden from prying eyes via Kurenai's favorite genjutsu from her Intel days.

"How long do you think Minato-sensei will make us watch Yuki?" Kakashi says, watching the hustle and bustle of morning in Konoha. "He's already trusted enough for Wall Duty and possession of sharp objects."

"The better question is: how long until he gets sent on his first mission? That's when we'll be able to re-enter regular duty. Don't get me wrong, Hatake, I've been aching for a mission, too, but I'm enjoying watching the boy settle in here."

Kakashi snorts. "You can only watch someone cry himself to sleep so many times before it gets boring."

"Ever the philanthropist, Hound," Kurenai says drily. "You realize he basically lost his father, sensei, and companion on that mission, right? I think he's warranted the tears."

"As long as it doesn't affect his on-duty performance, I couldn't care less what he does in his spare time."

"Charming. I can see why Ram likes you so much." Kurenai flicks a quick seal, expanding her genjutsu to envelop the man on the ground. "Tousaki, come up here and keep your boyfriend from annoying me."

Ryouma looks up, his surprise showing everywhere but his face. He adeptly scales the building. "Leopard. Hound. I was just..."

"Coming to check on the Yuki boy?"

"Caught me red-handed." Ryouma grins, and Kakashi's heart absolutely does not skip a beat. For every negative thing he had to say about the ANBU masks, they at least made it easier to pretend his boyfriend wasn't ridiculously and unfairly attractive.

"Not that I don't appreciate you distracting me while I'm supposed to be on surveillance," Kakashi drawls, "but don't you have your own team to look after?"

Ryouma rolls his eyes, "What kind of jounin-sensei do you take me for? I've been checking up on them, and they have Sundays off, anyways. You of all people should know this, Hound. Plus, you know that I know it's not your shift yet."

"So you do care about the boy," Kurenai says sweetly, "Don't worry, Hound, I won't tell anyone you're really a big puppy on the inside. I'll have you both know he actually sowed the seeds of friendship today, and with an Uchiha kunoichi, no less."

"No shit," Ryouma's eyebrows climb up his forehead. "Did he threaten Hound in front of her?"

"Actually, I'm fairly certain they bonded over being gay clan members who dread raising children."

"Huh," Kakashi states blandly, "I wouldn't have pinned Uchiha Nadeshiko as a lesbian. She's such an aggressive flirt."

"Oh, Ka-chan," Ryouma says lovingly, "Haven't you ever heard that the best defense is a really good offense?"

"Maa, you've got me there. Any other items of note from your watch, Leopard?"

"Actually, yes. He successfully deescalated a potentially hostile situation with Fukuda Kimiko-san by the river. It was my own fault for allowing him to swim so far upstream, but Sango-chan seems to have taken a liking to him, regardless."

If Ryouma's jaw was hanging any lower, it would be touching the roof. Kakashi helps him out by closing it for him.

"Kiri should really treat their shinobi better'f they want us to stop ending up with their refugees," Ryouma finally says.

"I don't think they give a shit. As far as they know, neither Sango nor Haku exists, and Fukuda Takedo-san was a prisoner we executed. Why would Konoha let them think that kekkei genkai are valuable?"

"I'm not sayin' we should tell 'em, just that the Mizukage is really damn stupid."

"He might not have the hat much longer, as rumor has it," Kurenai says.

"I thought you weren't Intel, anymore."

"I'm not, but I have my sources."

The conversation seems to be over until Kurenai speaks up again. "I do have one concern about the boy, though. As soon as the Uchiha kunoichi mentioned joining ANBU, Yuki leapt at the chance. He may not be trying to kill himself, but I'd keep an eye out for him trying to get himself killed. In three years...ANBU might have their hands full."

Ryouma gives Kurenai a dirty look. "Haku is no more damaged than I was."

"Maybe so, but Namiashi still had his hands full with the both of you, and you didn't renew your term, Tousaki. Despite any ability he may have to carry out orders- and from what I've seen he's like one of Shibata's wet dreams- ANBU would destroy him."

Kakashi tips his head towards the sky in thought, but also trying to get any semblance of a breeze to curl up under his mask. "If he does try out, Yondaime-sama can fail him regardless of skill, but it isn't our decision to make, Yuuhi."

That conversation topic neatly closed, they stand around shooting the shit until the official turnover, when Ryouma and Kurenai abandon Kakashi to melt in the hot sun.

* * *

Ryouma is proud to continue the tradition of jounin-sensei running from their genin. He lets Team Seven catch up to him when he reaches the training fields, where there is plenty of space to be tackled.

"What's got you three so riled up?" Ryouma says from under a pile of smug twelve-year-olds.

"You didn't sign us up for the chuunin exams! And now everyone else is having fun without us!" Naruto wails.

"We would've been back in time," Sakura points out.

Ryouma gently shoves them off of himself and sits up, looking each member of his team in the eyes. "You really wanted us to leave for the Forest of Death right after debriefing?"

"Well..." Naruto starts.

"Not to mention, I didn't know when we'd be getting back. If we hadn't gotten that boat, we would've gotten home five days later, after the start of the exams. None of you were at the top of your game when we got back. In six months, I'll make sure you're all prepared. Alright, kids?"

"Fine," Naruto grumbles.

"It was worth a shot," says Sasuke, going for sympathetic.

Team Seven spends the rest of their Sunday afternoon swimming in the river. It's not quite training, because it's the middle of August and it's close to a hundred degrees out, but it helps limber up their muscles nonetheless. For the first time, none of Ryouma's genin complain (about the exercise).

* * *

A few weeks later, Haku is busy being pounded into the dirt on one of the jounin training fields. Everything about his taijutsu is slack, and Nadeshiko does not hesitate to remind him about that, painfully and with great cheer.

"C'mon, kid, up and at 'em." Nadeshiko bounces on the balls of her feet, her braid swaying rhythmically behind her.

Haku shoves himself up and resolves to spend more time at the gym so that muscle can supplement the chakra behind his punches. In the short term, he resolves to punch that smug grin off of her face.

"What am I doing wrong, senpai?"

"You keep blocking with your cute face! Use your forearms more, don't drop your elbows. You're good at dodging, I'll give you that, but what if you meet someone faster than you who isn't as nice as I am?" The tomoe spin lazily in her eyes. Haku has to remind himself not to stare.

Four chakra signatures approach from the edge of Haku's passive range. Probably a jounin team angling for the field, but Haku had checked - nobody was scheduled for this one. "One more spar," he calls out without looking over his shoulder.

A familiar baritone calls back, "Take your time! We'll just watch." Ryouma and his genin, then.

Haku blows a stray hair out of his face and tries to remember to block this time. The fight lasts a little longer than the previous ones that day, but then Haku plants his foot in some mud left over from the torrential downpour yesterday, and in an unguarded moment he takes a solid hit to the jaw that has him seeing stars.

"Oh, fuck..." Haku groans, then blinks, seeing two outstretched hands and two pairs of concerned eyes. He stretches out his arms and allows himself to be helped back to his feet.

"Uchiha?" Ryouma says, "Check him for-"

"On it!" Nadeshiko replies, blinking red into his vision. If he stares, he thinks he can almost see-

Nadeshiko pulls back, sighing in relief, and claps Haku on the shoulder. "You gave me a scare, brat. Thought I gave you a concussion. You'll have quite the shiner, though."

Haku raises a shaky hand to his cheek, already feeling the skin swell with broken blood vessels. "Fuck," he says again, with feeling, because the situation warrants it.

"I can heal that for you, if you want," Ryouma says, hands already lit with green chakra.

Haku nods, his jaw hurting too much to speak. Ryouma sets his hands just above it and Haku feels fluid being pushed back where it belongs and flesh knitting back together. It's really weird.

When his bruise is healed, Haku addresses Ryouma. "Did you just come to watch me get beat up, or was there something else you needed from me?"

Ryouma smiles. "My team wanted to invite you to post-training lunch at Akimichi Barbecue. Uchiha's welcome to come, too, as long as she promises to be pleasant."

Nadeshiko puts on her best affronted facade. "Me? Unpleasant? You're thinking about my cousins, sensei. Sure, I'll come. Any friend of Yuki's is a friend of mine."

The six of them manage to get to the restaurant, be seated, and order without major incident.

"So, baby cousin," Nadeshiko says, propping her chin on her hand, "How's genin life treating you?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "We both have cousins that are actually babies, there's no need to call me that. And you'd know, if you bothered showing up to the clan dinners. I already told them all about picking up Haku. Ryouma-sensei's got us back on D ranks around the village, though, but I can't complain, honestly."

The humor leaves her eyes. "You know why I don't go to clan dinners anymore, Sasuke-kun. I doubt your father would want me there, either."

Haku looks between his new friend and newer friend, intrigued. Ryouma offers him a shrug. Naruto and Sakura are blowing straw wrappers at each other. The food comes, and Haku digs into his takoyaki with relish. Getting beat up always makes shinobi hungry.

When Haku comes up for air, he finds Ryouma looking at him earnestly.

"How're you finding Konoha so far?"

Haku tenses, trying to organize his thoughts about the village that killed his adoptive father and took his hand, and is surprised to find they're mostly positive. "I like it here. There's a river to swim in and it doesn't rain all the time. I can see the stars at night. I'm learning the finer parts of being a shinobi and I'm excited to see what improvements I can make to my own jutsu. People, for the most part, have been exceedingly kind to me." He meets Nadeshiko's eyes and she gives him two finger guns and a wink, because his best friend is fucking ridiculous.

"I'm glad to hear it," Ryouma says with a relaxed smile.

Haku almost hates him, hates what he did, but there were so many ways that incident on the bridge could've gone worse. Ryouma was protecting those who were precious to him, same as Haku was, he was just better at it. Interrogation wasn't even that horrible. Haku thinks he likes Shibata, which is a weird thought to have about someone who almost makes you shit yourself in fear a few times.

He sighs and settles back into the booth, observing his friends, and a small smile lifts the corners of his mouth.

* * *

Haku's eighteenth birthday comes and goes with more fanfare than he's used to. He can't remember much of the celebrations with his parents, and Zabuza found birthday celebrations, "Fuckin' pointless, but if it matters that much to you, brat, I can swipe you a pastry." His sixteenth was spent on his own, and only the people who had access to his files knew about it - he woke up to a brand new senbon holster with white lilies on it and a note from Leopard. As for his seventeenth, it was spent on a scouting mission in northeast Fire Country, and the jounin squad he was with was none the wiser.

Today, January ninth, Y-15, Haku has an itinerary and a savings account.

Yuuichi greets him with enthusiasm. "Haku! Happy birthday. I've got your order right here - six inch sweet potato cake with buttercream frosting. Keep it cool until you're ready to eat it." He slides a box across the counter. "Do you want candles, too?"

Haku hasn't blown out birthday candles since his sixth birthday. "Sure, if you have one large one, that would be great, Shiranui-san."

"Which color would you prefer?" Yuuichi lays out the bakery's selection on the counter, and one immediately catches Haku's eye.

"The teal and white striped one, please."

Haku pays for his items and Yuuichi gives him a small bag of sugared plums. "My treat," he says, eyes glowing. If Haku didn't know any better, he'd say Yuuichi was proud of him for making it to the civilians' mark of adulthood. He thanks the kind old man and bows before exiting the bakery.

The next task is one that Haku has been planning for a long while, ever since his first paycheck. During his first week as an active duty shinobi in Konoha, he ran across a pet store that was showcasing the most resplendent betta fish and resolved to get one for himself.

The shopkeep, a rotund woman with dark hair graying around her face, regards Haku with the same wariness that most civilians reserve for shinobi - dual awareness of alliance and killing hands. Haku tries not to take it personally, and smiles warmly at her, inclining his head. "Good morning, ma'am. I'd like to purchase a betta fish. Would you mind assisting me with my tank setup?"

Kindness begets kindness. The woman smiles. "Of course. Not many shinobi have the desire to properly care for a pet. Once, a pair of chuunin fell through the roof of my shop and destroyed half of my tanks. You can understand why I would be suspicious about ninja."

"Oh, of course," Haku says, walking the aisles of multicolored fish. In one of the tanks, there's a cyan male betta with black tipped fins. Haku sighs happily. "He's absolutely beautiful. I'll take the whole setup, if you don't mind."

"Certainly. You're going to want food and pH stabilizers, too." As she carries out the 2.5 gallon tank, her eyes are drawn down to the stump of Haku's wrist, unnoticeably from a civilian perspective, but obvious from a shinobi's. "Will you need assistance carrying everything back to your home?"

That's one thing Haku appreciates about civilians - no training in deception. He lays the money on the counter and spares the chakra for two shadow clones, who carefully grab the tank as he slips the bag of other fish supplies over his left arm, juggling the cake box with his right hand. "Thank you, but that won't be necessary."

The shopkeep bows. "It was a pleasure, shinobi-san. Feel free to come back anytime."

Haku returns her bow and hastily makes his way through the streets back to his apartment, clones trailing behind. There's a snow squall brewing, and Haku's veins sing out in response. Today is shaping up rather nicely. Haku puts the cake in the fridge and instructs his clones to install the tank on the kitchen table, against the wall. The clones dismiss themselves. Haku blinks away a rather boring set of memories and sits at the table, watching his new friend flutter about.

"Hi, there, pretty boy," Haku croons. "You're like a water dragon. I think I'll call you Ryuuki. Does that sound good?" The fish briefly stops swimming around the tank to look at him, and Haku takes that as a yes.

"Alright, I need to run some more errands. Be good, Ryuuki-kun." Haku smiles at the fish and drops a pinch of fish food in the tank, which the fish eats voraciously.

Haku locks his apartment door behind him, sets his wards, and straightens his hitai-ate, steeling himself for the next task. He leaps across rooftops towards the Missions Office as snow starts to fall. He feels like his entire body is lighting up and he smirks to himself. Reckless use of chakra or not, it's his birthday, so he calls up ice under his feet and skates the rest of the way, flipping off of the last roof and landing in a crouch. He straightens up and strides into the Missions Office with purpose.

For the first time, Haku is held under Anaji Shenzou's strikingly green gaze. Suddenly, the older man breaks out in a smile, creasing the wrinkles around his eyes. "So, today's the day, is it? I've been wondering when I'd see you, Haku. You kept me waiting." Shenzou disappears underneath his desk for a second, there's the sound of a filing cabinet being open and shut again, and he reappears with an official form attached to a clipboard and a ballpoint pen.

"I had other tasks to complete first, Anaji-san," Haku says sheepishly, swiping the offered form and pen from the counter.

Haku retreats to one of the hard, wooden chairs to fill it out. It looks like any other standard paperwork, only the heading at the top reads: **APRIL Y-15 ANBU APPLICATION**. Name, registration number, date of birth, rank, blood type, and address are the usual. Then, the specialty jutsu that Haku would like to demonstrate. He has an ace up his sleeve that he's been perfecting for this very moment, but a few tweaks still have to be worked out, namely the high amount of chakra the technique consumes. At this point, every shinobi in Konohagakure is aware of his Ice Release, and many jounin have seen his Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals. The Jutsu Records Office has a file on its improved version, but nobody outside of Intel has seen it yet, and he plans to keep it that way until mid-April.

Next, there is but one simple question. **Why are you a good candidate for ANBU?**

Haku twiddles the pen between his fingers before settling on: _I have the desire to serve and protect the Village that has become my home, as well as the talent to achieve it. My kekkei genkai especially befits the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad, and is useful in a variety of applications, as Konohagakure sees fit to use it._

There is a set of seals written in chakra-infused ink. In lieu of a signature, Haku bites his thumb hard enough to draw blood and swipes it across the ink, which softly glows in activation. The form rolls up and vanishes itself with a faint pop, leaving behind the smell of ozone. After all of the anticipation Haku had for this moment, that was rather anticlimactic. He takes a deep breath to settle his nerves and returns the clipboard and pen to the desk, licking his bleeding finger.

Shenzou tosses the pen back into the repurposed coffee mug with _#1 Dad_ emblazoned on it and tucks the clipboard back under his desk. If Haku recalls correctly, Etsu-chan is sixteen and three years a chuunin, now. He smiles at the thought, but what Shenzou does next surprises Haku even more than the frank greeting. Shenzou sits up straight in his wheelchair and taps a flat hand to his forehead in a salute, looking every inch the dignified soldier Haku knew he had been, but could never quite picture.

"Best of luck, Yuki-san, and may the Will of Fire light your path," says Shenzou, startlingly serious.

Haku immediately snaps to attention and returns the salute. "My thousand good graces, Anaji-san, to you and your family."

Shenzou gives him a fleeting but genuine smile, then ducks back down to his never-ending stack of slaughtered trees. "Get lost, brat. Don't have too much fun, or Chiriko-taichou will staple your feet to the Wall."

"That's not the worst punishment I've had," Haku says cheerfully as he exits the building, remembering the one and only time he ended up on Naomi's doorstep. He had been drunk off his ass after Nadeshiko took him bar-hopping for the first time, and his commanding officer had rewarded him at training the following morning with sprints until he threw up.

Hopefully, Nadeshiko won't christen him with alcohol, this time. Haku returns to his apartment and reads the next chapter in one of his continuing education textbooks ( _Genjutsu Basics: Creating a Convincing Illusion_ ) while he waits for her. She's supposed to be training with her ANBU team until noon, and then, because it's _his_ birthday and he can do what he wants, he's going to cook her a meal and they're going to finish that entire cake.

Ten minutes past noon and Haku is starting to get impatient. He gets up and paces his room, wondering what could be holding his friend up. Did she decide she didn't like him, after over two years?

Haku is almost too lost in thought to notice the chakra flare preceding the bang on his window. Nadeshiko has pinned herself to the glass with fine points of chakra, grinning like a devil. Her hair is falling loose of its braid and her face and clothes are mud-streaked. The tip of her nose and the crests of her cheekbones are flushed red with the cold. Haku sighs in relief and opens his window so she can climb into his apartment.

Nadeshiko picks Haku up off the ground in a lung-crushing hug and ruffles his hair. "Happy birthday, kid."

"Kid? I'm only two years younger than you!" Haku smiles with familiarity - they've had this argument before.

"Yeah. Two years is a long time." Nadeshiko looks off into the distance wistfully, then turns back to Haku. "What're you feeding me?"

"Poison," Haku says, a soft smile on his face.

Nadeshiko gasps, "No! You've finally turned on me, and after all the times I beat you into the ground!"

Haku giggles, "I've grown to like the feeling of grass and mud in my face, but I'm actually making us trout."

"Poisoned trout," Nadeshiko says pointedly, collapsing into one of the low chairs at the kitchen table and laying eyes on the new installation. "Who's this little fella?"

"Oh! That's Ryuuki-kun. Isn't he gorgeous?" Haku rummages around in the kitchen, putting the fish he had pre-cleaned in a sizzling pan of garlic and butter. The smell is making his mouth water.

"He is." Nadeshiko waggles her fingers at the fish. "He won't be upset that we're eating his cousin?"

Haku snorts, "No, betta eat their own species all the time." He flips the filets over, anchoring the pan by the handle with chakra from the stump of his left wrist. He waits a minute before doling them out onto two plates, over steaming white rice. Haku easily carries both meals over to the table, as if he didn't have a missing hand to contend with.

Both ninja let their appetites take over. The fish splits perfectly along the fat deposits as Haku nudges it apart with his chopsticks.

Nadeshiko leans back in the chair and pats her belly. "Good shit. So, did you do it?"

Haku holds up his scabbed thumb. "Of course. It was less...cathartic than I was expecting."

She chuckles, probably remembering her own ANBU Trials. "Trust me, that comes later. I had so much catharsis that week that I had to go for something stronger than whiskey the next time I went out."

"Remind me in April not to let you invite me out," Haku teases, hopping up to clear the dishes and retrieve the cake. He places the single candle directly in the center and pushes the box towards Nadeshiko, who lights the candle with a snap of her fingers.

Nadeshiko starts to sing. She's tone deaf and her voice is hoarse, but Haku wouldn't have it any other way. He's practically glowing as he blows out the candle and makes a wish, a single, desperate plea.

 _I wish to protect those who are precious to me._


	9. Trial by Fire

Katsuko leaps across Konoha's rooftops in the April drizzle, headed towards the warehouse district. She'd been away in Iwa far longer than she's been back in Konoha (only two years!), but ANBU welcomed her with open arms, if she wanted it.

She hates to admit how much she needed it, after all the bureaucracy.

Katsuko had signed up for the officer prep course, for real, and spent the latter half of that year running a stint as a lieutenant after two teams suffered heavy casualties. Every mission had been pretty straightforward, after that. None of the shinobi who died were people she knew. Nine years away from the Village meant a lot of catching up to do.

Yondaime-sama and Sakamoto-sama must have thought she did a wonderful job, or they were immensely stupid, because she was promoted to captain the following year.

Figures her most successful team is up for a reshuffle once the Trials start, but seeing who's going to be her lieutenant almost makes it worth it. Almost.

Katsuko shields her chakra down to the dullest glimmer, sensing a familiar ANBU spark walking down the street. Just as it turns the corner, she jumps out from behind the wall. "Afternoon, Shiranui-fukuchou!"

Poor Genma. He's been away from Katsuko's antics for too long, and he nearly drops his grocery bags, but he smiles at her anyways. "Ueno. You don't have to call me 'Lieutenant' anymore, it's been eleven years."

"Yes, I do! Teams got reshuffled," she says, grinning fiercely.

He seems to put two and two together and briefly looks up into the spitting sky before setting his bags down and tapping two fingers to his left shoulder. "Taichou."

* * *

Haku wakes up at 0400 for the first stage of the ANBU Trials. He takes a two minute shower, eats breakfast, feeds Ryuuki-kun, and packs his kits, making sure to include sunscreen. After his first summer in Konoha, when the sun beat down as he took shifts on the Wall, he was not inclined to repeat the same mistake of neglecting to apply it. He settles his senbon holster - the black one with white lilies that Leopard got him two years prior - on his right thigh, adjacent to his kunai holster. Then, he leaves his apartment, making sure to reset the wards, and sprints up to the ANBU training fields which were previously off-limits to him.

Though he arrives fifteen minutes early, other candidates are already milling about, debating what ridiculous tasks they'll have to complete this time. Haku recognizes a lot of faces, but most of their names escape him. It doesn't seem like any of the jounin he's been assigned to run missions with in the past are trying out. Well, best to just sit back and observe, then. The general attitude towards him amongst ninja is not a pleasant one. If someone wants to start shit, they'll have to come find him themselves.

Exactly at 0500, twenty or so ANBU agents appear in front of the candidates, their presence cool and menacing. Haku stands up stock-straight, searching the masks for ones he recognizes. Only Monkey is familiar, standing front and center, shorter than almost everyone else, but undeniably in charge. The taller man in the crow mask next to him unfurls a large scroll on the ground.

The ANBU Commander speaks in a professional cadence, wasting no time and far from the joking manner he used with Haku in the past. "Drop your weapons on the scroll. You won't be needing them today. If we catch you with something sharp, you will be disqualified for inability to follow orders. As soon as your weapons are sealed, you may run to the West Gate. If we catch you translocating, or you forge the stamp, or you take longer than an hour, you will be disqualified. We will be watching."

Monkey seems to look directly at Haku for a brief moment before he addresses the crowd again. "May the Will of Fire light your path."

* * *

Kurenai watches over the field of candidates, hidden by genjutsu. Since she's not an officer, she's technically not supposed to be here, but she wants to keep tabs on the shinobi she'd been tapped to watch when he first arrived in Konoha almost three years ago. Plus, she still has some time before she has to start her shift on the Wall.

One-handed ninja are no oddity in Konoha. One-handed ninja who are still active duty, however, are. For this reason, Haku is considered somewhat of a prodigy, and somewhat of a huge liability. He works hard to only be the former, so when he turns eighteen and signs up for that spring's ANBU trials, nobody is surprised.

He's grown, thinks Kurenai, watching from the periphery of the field where the candidates had emerged, ragged and sweaty after a long run and a longer fight, to show off their personal techniques. He stands out against the others, paler than most Konoha-nin and decidedly shorter. Too much hardship too young had ensured Haku would never be tall, but he _had_ grown - two inches, maybe three, hard to tell at this distance - and his frame was more lean grace and less skinny fragility - muscle tight over bone on his bare arms. It was a gloriously sunny day, and in the light she could see how the proportions of his face had changed in the three years he'd been in Konoha, jaw sharper, cheekbones a little more prominent, eyes a little less wide than the ones she remembered on the delicate, girlishly pretty child that she'd surveilled during his first several weeks in the village. A little more handsome and a little less pretty, now, Kurenai notes as she watches Haku stretch restlessly, standing a little apart from his peers. He would be famously lovely in a few years, once he'd grown into himself more, face just sweet and soft enough to be disarming. Intelligence would've liked him for that, but for one, former missing-nin with a history of emotional problems and a very obvious amputation tended to make bad spies. For two, it wasn't such a shame to hide a pretty face under an ANBU mask - Kurenai had done it, and even in ANBU there were sometimes other kinds of missions to run. For three, Konoha had never wanted Haku for his pretty face - only for his blood. Kurenai knew he knew that.

* * *

Haku takes care to stand a ways away from the other candidates once jutsu demonstrations start. After someone tried to trip him during the sprint to the West Gate, and he had dodged neatly, the other shinobi stumbling and losing significant ground, he wasn't particularly interested in making more enemies.

That doesn't seem to stop the man who settles into a crouch next to Haku, however. He has dark skin, short, tightly curled hair, and soulful brown eyes. He would be blind not to acknowledge the man as attractive, but Haku has definitively and clearly marked himself as off-limits.

"What do you want from me?" Haku says bluntly.

"Huh?" The other man looks up, seeming startled that Haku deigned to talk to him.

"Everyone else hates me or thinks I was promoted due to pity. Or both. Which will it be for you?"

"Neither! I genuinely think you're talented. Yondaime-sama isn't crazy or stupid- youve obviously got what it takes." The man stands up and holds a hand out to Haku. "Koeshi Bachyou. And you're Yuki...Haku, right?"

Haku looks at him narrowly. "Being pretty doesn't make me an easy fuck, either. If that's your angle."

Koeshi Bachyou snorts and drops his hand back down to his side. "I'm bleeding, and it's like a million degrees out, but sure, if you're offering. Bet we'll get on Sakamoto-sama's good side."

Haku doesn't actually roll his eyes, but it's a near thing. "I'm sure."

Bachyou looks out over the field, where the other candidates are demonstrating their jutsu one-by-one, "So why'd you do it?"

"Sign up for ANBU, or refuse to sleep with you?"

"Either, both." He shrugs, eyes still on the kunoichi creating mud blades.

"I signed up for ANBU to be useful to my village." Haku hopes the other question will be ignored.

"That's noble of you," Bachyou says, sincere. "I'm just trying to see how far I can go, you know? Push myself to my limits."

Haku tilts his head. "In service of what? Just to see if you can? To prove something to yourself?"

"Prove civvie kids are just as good. People around here seem to think that purebred ninja are stronger."

Haku considers this. "I'm half-civilian," he volunteers.

"And you're stronger than at least half the shinobi here," Bachyou says with a wicked grin.

Haku shrugs. "I'm not terribly interested in power for its own sake."

"That's not what I meant. I'm saying you've got a real shot at this. They'll probably take ten of us, since last time the pool was so small."

He stretches, eyes closing. "That may be, but I don't _need_ to be ANBU. I thought it would be a good application of my talents, but if Hokage-sama and the commander think otherwise, I'll find another way to serve Konoha." Haku slits an eye open at Bachyou. "Let's say you wash out. What would you do then?"

"Continue doing my job? I'm not completely stupid. If ANBU is a hill I can't climb, so be it. There are other ways to be a good ninja. Hell, if I'm not running around killing babies I might have the time to work on my jutsu some more."

He drops from standing on his toes to flat feet. "That's a more worthy goal, to my mind. What kind of jutsu are you inventing?"

Bachyou's eyes glint, "You'll see, won't you?"

Haku gives him a fey little smile. "I suppose I will."

It's not Bachyou who's called up next, though, it's Haku. Bachyou inclines his head and makes an expansive gesture, "Knock 'em dead."

Haku hesitates, gives him a short bow, and crosses the field to show ANBU's leaders what he can do.

Bachyou watches with interest. This is the first time he'll be seeing the famed Hyouton in person.

Haku's old demonic mirroring ice crystals was showy, but had a plurality of weaknesses, namely that it was chakra-intensive, stationary, and could only control a few enemies at once. He's been experimenting since then.

He plants his feet in the dead, flattened grass in front of his ANBU judges and holds his hand to his chest, flashing modified seals.

"Ice Style: Flashing Crystal Mirrors."

A sheet of ice hangs in the air, and Haku _steps into it_ , what the fuck. That moves him up a couple of spots in Bachyou's internal ranking system- ANBU definitely wants a jutsu like that, and with it being a kekkei genkai, that makes Haku extremely valuable.

This jutsu is actually exceedingly difficult and requires an incredible amount of focus, and Haku can't pull it off without more than half his chakra reserves. What he can do is make it look effortless. He kicks out from the mirror, leaping two meters to the one he already knows will be there as the first mirror shatters behind him. He flings handfuls of ice senbon, lodging in the straw dummies in the middle of the field as he ping-pongs himself back and forth, creating and destroying ice mirrors as simply as a child blowing soap bubbles.

The last mirror has him a meter and a half above the field. He leaps down out of it, landing feather-light, and bows towards the assembled ANBU.

Bachyou nearly claps and wolf-whistles, but because he's a professional soldier, he holds out a hand again for Haku to shake when he returns, and a reverent, "Holy shit, dude."

Haku glances pointedly towards his own missing hand, because Bachyou offered the wrong one.

Bachyou laughs sheepishly and switches hands, "That was fucking incredible. They'd be insane not to take you."

Haku shrugs, ducking his face away modestly as he shakes the other man's hand. "Well, you know. Kekkei genkai. They would be expecting something like that."

"Sure, but the other candidates with kekkei genkai didn't impress me as much as you just did. A Sharingan can't do _that_ , can't even copy it."

Haku looks at him sidelong, trying to see ulterior motives, but the man's face is open and genuine. He smiles cautiously. "Well, I look forward to seeing your jutsu."

He had always assumed that Nadeshiko hadn't used her Sharingan during their ninjutsu spars out of courtesy, as Haku had asked her not to. It occurs to him now that she probably hadn't wanted to waste the chakra trying to capture something she could never copy. Or maybe it was courtesy, too, as he knew the Sharingan could sense chakra flow somehow, and even if his jutsu were irreplicable she could still get an edge on him. It's not like she'd kept her eyes black during his taijutsu lessons.

There's a few more candidates before Bachyou's name is finally called. He gives Haku a bastardized salute and steps out onto the field and into a circle of dummies, bowing to the ANBU commanders.

"Combination Earth and Lightning Style: Electric Tunneling," he states, flying through seals before setting his hands to the soil. He can feel the metallic elements aligning, pulsing his lightning chakra through, and then latching onto the metal in the kunai hanging at the dummies' belts. Everything in a five meter radius is zapped, and the dummies catch fire.

Haku smiles thoughtfully. Nasty little piece of work, that.

Bachyou bows to the commanders again and jogs back to Haku, under the shade of the trees. "Is that the best thing you've ever seen? Or is it the _best_ thing you've ever seen?"

"It's very clever," he says with a smile. "Does it arc to metal specifically, or can you just shock people through the ground?"

"It uses less chakra to grab for metal, since that's where it naturally wants to go, but I could shock one or two people with a more focused burst, if I needed to."

"Lightning natures are terrifying," says Haku appreciatively.

Bachyou grins devilishly. "Thank you."

The last candidate finishes up, leaving the now pitiful patch of grass to burn down to its roots. Everyone is called out to the center of the field and the masked ANBU form a semicircle around the candidates.

Monkey stands on the earthen platform with a clear view of his subordinates and calls out the first name, "Maako Shizue." The kunoichi with the mud blades steps forward, shoulders squared. Barely a second passes before the Commander says, "Step right."

When the next candidate is called, Haku risks a glance over his shoulder and sees the ANBU making quick signs with their hands. Trail code, and not the jounin signs Haku knows. This one goes left.

"Koeshi Bachyou," states Monkey, and for all of the exchanged half-jokes from earlier, Haku is pleased to see the cool professionalism in the young man's posture. No emotion seeps through, even as Bachyou stares down the ANBU Commander. He steps right.

Forty-three candidates are a lot to get through, and Haku finds himself getting almost bored with waiting. He's the last of five when his name is called and the sorted groups of shinobi are roughly even. Haku strides forward, glares weighing heavy on his back. No matter the decision, the audience will be upset. He wills himself not to be.

"What say you, Yuki? Famed prodigy that you are." Monkey cocks his head, and Haku is too well-trained to flinch, but he takes a few seconds to stalk down words that won't get him punched.

"I say that I will defer to your determination, whatever that may be."

Haku catches the flicker in Monkey's eyes as he watches the other ANBU.

Monkey makes a noise in his throat, and Haku doesn't dare think of it as pleased. "Go join your friend on my right."

Haku flushes, then salutes and strides over to the indicated clump of shinobi, deliberately not standing next to Bachyou...

Who looks a little hurt. Dammit.

The other four shinobi are sorted and the commander addresses the crowd to his left. "Your attempt is appreciated. Feel free to try again this October, or find a less suicidal way to spend the remainder of your service."

Haku exhales a breath he didn't realize he was holding, but doesn't let his posture sag as Monkey's eyes sweep over the twenty-two remaining candidates.

"You have sixteen hours to make preparations. Only bring what materials you can fit in your kits, weapons are allowed. Rendezvous here at 0500 for the Second Trial. Be late, and be disqualified."

The ANBU Commander translocates away, with the rest of the masked ghouls half a heartbeat behind him. The candidates' confiscated weapons materialize and clatter onto the ground. Haku hangs back from the fray, not particularly eager to get between a shinobi and their tools, especially when his own are so small.

When Haku finally steps in to reattach his holsters to his thigh, an angry chakra presence towers over him.

"May I help you?" Haku says without looking up.

"Who'd you bribe, Kiri? Don't know why they'd let a crippled traitor like you into ANBU." There's a murmur from the crowd. Some assent.

Haku looks up at the man. Blonde buzzed-short hair, blue eyes, perpetual scowl. He recognizes him as the Yamanaka who tried to trip him on the run out, and then proceeded to have a shaky jutsu demonstration. Rusting blades would be interesting if it had worked in less than one minute. So, not a threat.

"Oh, my apologies, did I take your spot?" Haku says sweetly.

The man crosses his arms. "You don't deserve a spot. Hell, you don't even deserve that hitai-ate on your head."

Haku quirks an eyebrow. "While I may wash out in the later stages, I am no less qualified than anyone else here. I've successfully completed nearly one hundred B-rank missions and fifteen A-ranks in less than three years of service. The village has undoubtedly benefitted from my duty. Unless you're insinuating that Yondaime-sama has made some sort of mistake?"

That stops the Yamanaka in his tracks. For any shinobi, having the devotion to one's Kage called into question is a grand offense, but Haku continues needling him. "If getting into ANBU is so important to you, I implore you remember Rule number twenty-five."

Thankfully, the other man steps off. His expression shutters closed like a trap, he collects his weapons, and he leaves without another look at Haku, who sighs long-sufferingly.

Haku feels a cool chakra presence from over his right shoulder, like sheet metal, and Bachyou's voice follows. "For what it's worth, my friends and I are glad to have you around. Want lunch?"

"Um," Haku says elegantly, turning to look at the indicated friends. Maako Shizue stands nonchalantly next to a green-haired kunoichi. Dyed, or natural? Haku realizes they're waiting for his answer. While he does want to go out for lunch, he really should be spending his time getting ready for the second stage.

"No, thank you," he tells Bachyou, who shrugs.

"Another time, maybe. C'ya tomorrow?"

"Of course, I can't drop out now." Haku gives him a small smile and translocates back to his apartment building in three quick jumps.

When he's settled back in his room, Haku plops down at the kitchen table and looks at his pet fish. "I think I messed it up, Ryuuki-kun."

Ryuuki-kun stares blankly back at him.

"Not the trials! I'm moving on to the next stage. But...someone tried to make friends with me today and I blew him off because I was nervous and scared. He probably hates me now."

Ryuuki-kun swims around his tank a little.

"You're right. Nadeshiko would know what to do. Too bad she's on the Wall right now. I guess I should get ready." Haku unties his hitai-ate, sets it down, and pushes back from the table to gather his supplies.

* * *

Katsuko swings down from her perch on HQ's roof to join the other officers on the ground. Day One of the Trials has gone swimmingly - she's already picked out a few candidates that she wants as rookies. Mostly Maako Shizue, but the likelihood of getting another kenjutsu user on her team seems pretty low.

The ANBU Commander takes off his mask and clips it to his belt, eyes roving over the gathered shinobi. Suddenly, a smile breaks across his face. "You all did a decent job. Nobody died or was permanently crippled, so I'd say Act One was a roaring success. I'll give you two hours to make preparations, my lovely stage crew, and then we will meet here to set up for Act Two. Plot twists abound - we're doing thing a little differently this year." Ginta's eyes gleam with excitement. "Captains, I'd strongly suggest you at least make eye contact with your lieutenants before 1400. Dismissed."

Ginta translocates away with the Vice Commander, Shibata Hakone, hot on his heels.

Katsuko finds the familiar tanuki mask in the crowd and lifts her own mask off to fan herself with. It's abnormally warm for April, but that just means a storm is soon on the horizon.

"'Lo, fukuchou," Katsuko says with a lopsided grin.

At least Genma is smiling when he takes his mask off and hooks it to his belt. "Ueno-taichou. Or would you rather I called you something else, now that our roles are reversed?"

She shrugs. "Katsuko's fine, Ueno's fine, but my final decision will come when our rookies do." She starts to walk towards the mess hall and its dubious food. At least it's free on ANBU pay.

"Of course," Genma says breezily, falling back on her right side. "I assume you have your opinions on the candidates?"

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't! Maako's my favorite. Her affinities are the opposite of mine, yet she feels like a kindred spirit." Katsuko grabs a tray for herself and passes one to Genma.

"She's a swordswoman," Genma says as if it explains everything. Which, yeah, it kind of does.

"And I'm a woman of taste and refinement. Swords are badass." She scoops three servings of mystery curry over a mountain of rice and swipes some mochi. Her drink of choice is oversugared coffee.

"Mmhm," he hums, faintly amused. Because Genma is healthy, he's got some ridiculous tofu vegetable _thing_ and a mug of green tea. "I voted yes for her, too."

Katsuko starts shoveling food in her mouth, feeling validated. "Who else did you vote yes for?"

"Koeshi. Seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders, and that jutsu of his is useful as hell." Genma daintily (not really, but in comparison to Katsuko) munches on a stalk of broccoli.

"I wouldn't mind him on our team, either. Or the Yuki kid he seemed so fond of."

Genma's mouth quirks, as if he's shifting an imaginary senbon to the other side of his mouth. "I voted against him, actually."

"Shit, really? Was it because of the missing hand? He more than compensates for it, I don't see why anyone wouldn't vote for him."

"How much do you know about him?"

Katsuko shrugs. "Former Kiri missing-nin, Ice Release, one hand. That's what everyone knows, though. Also, Team Seven and him are pretty close."

"Well, Ryouma's the one who captured him. Yuki Haku is a fine ninja, but he has a slew of mental health issues. I feel like ANBU is the exact wrong path for him to be taking."

"Hm," Katsuko shoves an entire ball of mochi in her mouth and chews thoughtfully. "If it really is as much of a problem as you say, Hokage-sama can bump him out in the third round, assuming he knows enough about Konoha's outskirts to make it that far."

Genma stands up and takes their empty trays. "I suppose." He glances sidelong at Katsuko. "You know what the second trial is."

Katsuko walks casually behind him. "Sakamoto-sama asked me, personally, to assist with supplies. I've been spending a fair amount of my free time this past month preparing."

Genma waits a few seconds, and when Katsuko doesn't add anything else, he says, "We've got an hour. Is there anything you need me to pick up for you from the QM?"

"Rat bars. All of the rat bars. See you at 1400."

"Taichou," Genma replies, giving Katsuko the ANBU salute. She smiles at him, then runs off to shower and prime a batch of exploding tags. She'll never be too old to start a forest fire.


	10. Wild Goose Chase

The second day of the Trials begins in the same vein as the first, only Haku makes sure to pack extra supplies, including a basic medkit. The ratcheting stress in the candidates on the training field grates on Haku's senses, but it's no worse than Zabuza was on a good day, so he pulls a veil over it and sorts his senbon again, arranging and rearranging them.

0500 comes with a snap of chakra and the _whump_ of scrolls falling to the ground. Haku glances up from his task to see the twenty or so proctors from yesterday, then joins the other candidates in front of the scroll pile and slides into attention.

Monkey wastes no time. "Good morning, candidates. Your task today is to find two of forty-four scrolls hidden in the land surrounding Konoha. The first twelve to return with the two assigned to you will proceed to the next stage, but after thirty-six hours, those who have not completed the objective will be escorted back. Each of you will pick one scroll off of this pile. It contains a clue as to the location of its companion, which should be no further than 100 kilometers from Konoha. As always, death disqualifies you."

Haku can't read any emotion in Monkey's posture or his voice, but if he had to guess, he would say that the ANBU Commander is as pleased as a pig in shit. When it's his turn, he picks a scroll from the bottom of the dwindling pile, mind already racing through strategies.

A jounin's steady run is roughly sixteen kilometers to the hour. If Haku runs straight out from Konoha, it wouldn't take him more than seven hours to get to the edge of the specified range. Either the scrolls are hidden extremely well, or the candidates are going to be waylaid. Probably, both.

"Open your scrolls, but wait for my whistle," Monkey says, and there's the sound of rustling paper before he continues. "You do not have to find the scroll your painting depicts, however, if you _do_ find another one, leave your clue in that location."

Some people are probably going to be sent on a wild goose chase.

Haku studies his scroll. On it is a minimalist painting depicting a field of charred trees near a ravine. So, the badlands, southeast of Konoha, but that ravine is at least twenty kilometers long, and he doesn't know it well enough to say for certain where this particular organization of trees is. Best to get to the north edge as fast as possible and work his way south.

Haku vibrates with anticipation, waiting for the Commander's signal. Just when it seems like Haku is about to burst, a sharp sound cuts the air, and he takes off at a sprint, cutting across the top of Hokage Mountain and leaping over the east wall into the forest. Konoha's namesake greets him, caressing him as he moves swiftly through the shadows. He runs due southeast for three hours, about halfway to the boundary, before he decides to break for food and sunscreen. Haku munches on an apricot flavored rat bar and looks at his scroll again, trying to pick out identifying marks. A tree seems to have fallen over into the ravine, creating a sort of ramp down.

There's a rustle in a nearby bush and Haku doesn't waste time checking if it's just an animal. He shoves the scroll into his belt and translocates before breaking into a run.

Finally, after another three hours, he reaches the edge of the forest and is met with gray dirt and the harsh noon sun. Twenty-nine hours left to find the scroll and get back to Konoha. The northern tip of the ravine is just at the edges of his vision, growing hazy with heat. Before he leaves the safety of darkness, he takes a long swig from his canteen.

Haku takes a deep breath, cleaves off enough chakra for two substantial clones, then sprints into the light with both clones on his right. Anyone who watches would suspect them to be on his left, covering for his missing hand. At least, that's what he hopes an observer is thinking. The thirty minute run to the ravine uncovers nothing but ashy dirt and sprouting grass.

"Alright, split off and search the ravine," he tells his clones, "Kill yourselves if you find anything interesting, but stand and fight otherwise." They salute him and flashstep down the branching paths where the small river forks. He refills his canteen from the river and inspects this section of the ravine for fallen logs.

Haku moves at an incredibly slow pace for a ninja, only clearing about six kilometers of the ravine in the next four hours, checking every nook and cranny for scrolls. The heat becomes more oppressive with each passing kilometer and he feels his water affinity rising its head in response. There's about to be a storm, and he needs to find shelter, quickly. Twenty-four hours remain.

Suddenly, a rush of memories clouds his brain. One of his clones found the fallen log, another ten kilometers downstream. An easy translocation and a _pull_ of chakra lands him and his surviving clone near the log. The banks of the ravine stand concave, providing a small overhang as shelter. Haku risks threading out some more of his chakra, hoping that the scroll will have some embedded in it.

The good news? It does. The bad news? The scroll itself is embedded in the dirt at the point of the log, as if buried by an earth jutsu. The worse news? A distant roll of thunder, coming closer, makes the hair on the back of Haku's neck stand up. He sets his jaw and sifts through his mind's archives for a simple earth jutsu that won't use a lot of chakra.

Haku whips through modified seals and sets his hand to the ground, feeling a lurch as the scroll is pushed up to meet him. He sighs with relief, decidedly making good time ( _unless everyone else is faster, because they've all grown up here and I'm just a_ -), and since he hasn't eaten since roughly 0800 that morning, he deserves a goddamn rat bar.

It's halfway into his mouth when the sky behind him lights up in flames.

Haku risks the chakra and translocates to the edge of the forest. He's not running low, yet, but he needs to watch himself, especially if he keeps bending space-time like this.

Fire burns in his vision for a second as the scalding death of his clone snaps back to him. He shakes it off, but that moment of distraction is all he needs to be caught in an ANBU's grip. A voice in his ear whispers, "Hello, pretty boy. Heading home so soon?"

Haku's blood runs cold as he drops and twists out of the other man's arms, right hand already reaching for his senbon. Boar evades neatly and continues to jibe him, pressing him out of the trees' cover and back towards the surging fire. _It must be chakra-flames_ , says a voice in the back of Haku's head, _regular fire doesn't spread that quickly_.

"What's the matter? Not one for small talk?"

Haku bares his teeth in a snarl, a habit he picked up from Zabuza, and then the rain comes pouring down, but it doesn't quash the fire. Haku is truly in his element, now. He threads chakra through the stump of his left arm and continues flinging weapons at Boar, purposely missing, forcing him into an opening. As Haku dodges a round of shuriken, his right hand shapes _cold_ and _sharp_ and _many_ behind his back. The rain shivers in the air, elongating, and at Haku's command it embeds itself at key points in Boar's neck and shoulders, glancing off of the body armor elsewhere.

Boar drops like a rock. Haku doesn't waste any time, because as far as he knows there could be more ANBU ready to attack him, and he translocates a good thirty kilometers closer to Konoha.

* * *

Katsuko was just adding more fuel to her chakra flames to keep them roaring despite the rain when the chakra flare of combat draws her attention to the edge of the forest. Boar is pushing Yuki back out of the trees. She clicks her tongue. It'd be a shame, if the kid washed out now, but then something surprising happens. Boar goes down.

"Shit," she says, flicking on her throat mic, "Looks like Yuki killed Boar, then rabbited. I'm heading to investigate. Tanuki, on my six."

"Copy that," comes the response from base.

"Roger," comes Genma's voice, tinny and muffled by rain. He's behind her in a few steps, and they reach Boar in a few more.

Genma kneels down and puts two fingers to Sato's wrist. "No pulse, but he might not be gone yet, if these needles weren't poisoned. I've seen this technique before." He works to remove the senbon stuck in Sato's throat.

Normally, Katsuko would say the creepy bastard deserved it, but they have bigger problems on their hands if a former Kiri-nin just killed an ANBU. Well, that's not entirely fair. The kid had never had a formal relationship with Kiri. Though why Yuki would pick now of all times to turn traitor is utterly beyond her, and above her pay grade. Unable to perform medical jutsu, she leaves Genma to his fiddlings and creates five kage bunshin to stand guard over them.

There's a sigh of relief behind her. "Again, Boar? You'd think after the first time this happened you'd learn to dodge," Genma says, voice extremely disapproving.

"Fuck you, Shiranui," Sato says, groaning, "You got an eye on the Mist bastard?"

"Base is working on it," Katsuko replies firmly, "That little trick of his was well within the rules. You're not dead or crippled, so up and at 'em." Then, to Genma, "You recognized this technique?"

Genma nods. "Sleep of Death. From almost every point of view, the victim is dead, but when the senbon are removed and chakra is pulsed through the system, the victim will come to. It doesn't last forever, of course, and you need perfect aim, or you'd actually kill your target instead of making it look like you did. All in all, a clever diversion. If Yuki's found and opened his scroll, he should be headed for the next one already."

Katsuko turns her throat mic on again. "False alarm, Base. Boar was just sleeping on the job. No need to use lethal force on the Yuki brat, just Trials-level use of force."

Ginta's laugh chimes over the speakers. "What a devious little shit. Tanuki, you owe me 500 ryou for having too much faith in Boar. The rest of you, keep pushing our lovely test subjects towards home."

Genma is unreadable, as usual, and Katsuko finds herself wondering if she should try to curb her lieutenant's gambling habits, but that's a problem for later. The rain pounds down harder, and the thought of chasing more skittish candidates back towards Konoha has joy bubbling up in her. She whoops, unsheathing her katana and kodachi, and plunges into the forest.

* * *

Haku really pushed it too far, this time. He's down to twenty percent of his reserves, but at least he seems to have outpaced his pursuer. He shields his chakra down to the smallest glimmer and opens the new scroll. There's a haiku on it.

 _At the bottom of_  
 _Konoha's swimming hole is_  
 _My dear companion_

If Haku had to guess, he would say that Monkey wrote that particular piece of poetry. He groans internally and clips the scroll back to his belt. The rain hasn't reached this region yet, but he'll have to move fast to stay out of it. At least the river is closer to Konoha's borders, if further north of center. He knows exactly where the aforementioned swimming hole is, too. The river's source.

Based on the position of the sun, Haku estimates it to be 1900. Twenty-two hours left. He pours on the speed and travels west and steeply north, with roughly eighty kilometers to cover between him and his goal and not wanting to waste chakra on another translocation. At the rate he's currently traveling, he should reach the pool before midnight.

Dinner consists of a single rat bar, eaten while leaping from branch to branch. Chocolate chip, this time. There will be fish at the river, if he wants to risk getting caught for a more substantial meal.

He reaches the eastern side of the riverbank around 2330 and cuts north to follow it upstream. With the sun down, and without a watch, it's harder to keep track of time, but every jounin knows how to use heartbeats and footfalls to do so. Counting repetitively can help keep the mind busy, as well, with nothing better to do on long runs like these. Paranoia attempts to seep in, as it's been a while since Haku has seen any ANBU or candidates. No news is not always good news.

Once Haku reaches the swimming hole, he strips out of his clothes, leaving a kunai tucked in the waistband of his supportive briefs, and hides his gear with a henge, making it look like the other ferns dotting the banks of the pool. He spares some of his precious chakra for one of the earliest jutsu he learned - _Bird Monkey Dog Horse Hare Bird Rat_ \- and dives into the churning water, which breaks over his head like an air bubble. It's cold with snowmelt, but that makes it the perfect temperature, in Haku's opinion. He swims deeper and lets his chakra bloom out, searching for the scroll like a radar blip.

There's a small fish nibbling on its end, and Haku is hungry enough to let his Kiri-nin shine through. He pops the bubble around his face to bite down on the fish, feeling it squirm in his teeth before he severs the major artery with a canine. Its blood tastes metallic and real in his mouth. He has maybe one minute until he needs to surface, now, so he takes the scroll, only to find that it's tied to a rock.

Well, that's what kunai are for. Haku makes quick work of the rope and kicks up to the surface, cutting through the water like a needle despite missing one hand and the other being occupied.

Haku hoists himself out and chakra-walks on the surface of the water to his gear. He spits the dead fish onto a clean leaf and takes a moment to expel the water from his skin and briefs before canceling the henge and donning his gear. Quickly, he cleans and fillets the fish, dumping its entrails back into the river for food. While raw fish is not as nutritious as cooked, it settles the hunger pangs in his stomach and clears his head. He savors eating the eyeballs, always his favorite part of any fish dish.

0200 now, it's time to head out.

Or it would be, if someone didn't have their kunai laid at his neck. Haku looks up at the man calmly, then smiles, his bloody teeth and lips looking quite the sight.

"You're a little late to join me for dinner, you know, but plenty of fish are feeding at the surface."

"Give me the scroll," the man says. Haku catalogues details about his body as he shapes seals behind his back, out of the man's line of sight. Probably a taijutsu specialist, someone Haku would barely be able to fight on a good day. A water clone of his recent acquisition settles in his belt, the real version settling in his hand. He tucks it into his waistband.

The smile doesn't drop from Haku's face. "How about a trade? Give me your clue, and I'll give you the scroll I just found."

The other man hesitates, then pulls the kunai away from Haku's neck and hands over his haiku scroll.

Haku takes one of his from his belt and trades with the man. "See you back in Konoha." Haku gives the dumbfounded expression a bastardized salute before translocating five kilometers southwest - a risky move, considering he's running dangerously low on his reserves. There would still be another five to run before he gets to the Wall, but he deigns to check the third scroll just to make sure he kept the right one.

It requires a thread of chakra to open, and then Haku is yanked through the universe.

He lands on the far west side of the village, just outside of the gate. The jounin standing guard don't seem to be surprised at his appearance, so he must not be the first one back. Haku is starting to feel a little faint, but he gives them the password and steps through the gate, reading the scroll.

Aside from the Hiraishin seals, it says:

 _Congratulations on making it back to the Wall. Violent attacks are discouraged inside the village, but don't expect to not be detained by calmer methods. You might want to start running, now._

Haku swears under his breath and cuts through the shadowed alleyways, shielding his chakra. Rooftops would be quicker, but he wants cover. Konoha itself is a good ten kilometers long in the west-east direction, twice the amount he would've had to run from the point he translocated to. Its citizens are still asleep, but they won't be for much longer. For some, the day starts before the sun comes up.

It's been twenty-four hours since Haku last slept.

Without the aid of caffeine, he'd normally be passing out, but adrenaline is doing a wonderful job keeping his eyes open. A warm sinew of chakra teases his senses just as he reaches the shinobi district of town, two kilometers from the base of Hokage Mountain. Haku doesn't think, he just acts, blindly flinging senbon behind him and losing the tight grasp on his chakra - theres no point holding it in now that he's been spotted.

The chase is short and vicious, Haku's heart pounding in his ears as he ducks under awnings and into crevices that most full-sized shinobi can't follow. His downfall comes at Hokage Mountain, where the run is long and exposed. He takes a senbon to his right shoulder and his entire arm falls limp.

Haku snarls and empties the last of his weapons holsters, kunai and senbon, onto his pursuer like some sort of gruesome rain. Thunder rumbles in the distance, a reminder of the coming storm. Haku flares his chakra, then leaps over the side of Yondaime-sama's head and sprints the last hundred meters to ANBU Training Field One, where he collapses less than gracefully into the shinobi's kneel, panting.

It occurs to him, somewhere in the back of his mind, that his mouth is still bloodstained.

"Sakamoto-sama. Shibata-fukushirou," Haku says, throat dry. Tanuki stands at parade rest and watches the proceedings.

"Yuki." The ANBU Commander tilts his head. "Had a snack on the way here? Even in ANBU, cannibalism is frowned upon."

Haku licks his lips, tasting dried blood. Gods, he just wants them to get on with it already. Is he moving on to the next stage or not? "It was just a fish, sir."

Monkey makes an amused sound and holds out his hand. Haku threads as little chakra as possible into the stump of his left arm and gives him the four scrolls in his possession. Monkey opens each of the scrolls and looks them over.

"Now, Yuki, you only had to return with three scrolls. While I can appreciate that you're fond of my poetry, how did you come across this one?"

"It was a gift," Haku says smugly. At least one person won't be making it back to Konoha in the next twelve hours.

Monkey nods, seemingly satisfied. "You placed fifth. An ANBU agent will find you when it is time to begin the final stage. Dismissed."

A wave of fatigue and relief washes over Haku, but he pushes himself to his feet and gathers his composure enough for a left-stumped salute. "Commander."

"Brush your teeth, Yuki."

Haku nods in acknowledgement and casually walks towards the stairs that lead down Hokage Mountain. He's not going to use his chakra, for a while. Tanuki walks beside him, masked face pointedly looking at Haku's limp arm.

"Do you want me to remove the senbon?"

Haku's mouth thins, but he looks away and presents his shoulder. Tanuki quickly takes out the senbon holding his pathways closed and Haku feels the slow trickle of chakra and feeling return, flexing his hand automatically. He poorly stifles a yawn.

"Would you like me to escort you back to your apartment?" Haku thinks he hears concern in Tanuki's voice, does he think Haku is a _child_?

"No, thank you," Haku says coolly, gesturing with his stump towards his window. "It's right there. I just need to sleep. Don't you have other candidates to chase?"

Tanuki snorts. "If you're sure." He translocates away to deal with whoever is roaming through the streets now.

The walk back to his apartment is long and laborious. The sun is supposedly rising at Haku's back when he finally reaches the building's entrance and trudges up the two flights of stairs, but the last ten minutes of his walk left him drenched. He fiddles clumsily with his keys and slaps a chakra lined hand to his door, disabling the wards.

Haku knows he should clean up, but without anyone to nag him, and with the threat of chakra exhaustion clawing at his bones, he drops onto his bed like a felled tree and is asleep before his head hits the pillow.


	11. The Vaunted Peak

Haku sleeps for twelve hours straight and wakes up cotton-mouthed and stiff. He blearily stumbles his way into the bathroom and gargles with mouthwash twice before brushing his teeth. Jounin vest tossed over the back of a chair and soiled blues tossed in the hamper, he takes a much-needed shower. The hot water undoes most of the aches and pains, but his chakra reserves are still not fully recovered, perhaps around seventy percent. Food would help.

He shuts off the water, towels off, and throws on his pink satin robe, one of the few luxuries that he's allowed himself to have, then pads out to the kitchen in bare feet.

"You're probably hungry too, huh, Ryuuki-kun?" Haku coos at his fish, nudging aside the tank lid with his stump and sprinkling food flakes in. He's not quite sure if fish have emotions, but if they did, Haku would say that Ryuuki-kun had missed him. If only because he missed being fed.

Speaking of being fed. Haku straightens up, stretching like a cat, and plucks a plum from the fruit basket on the low table to munch on while he peruses the cabinets for something quick and easy. Chicken flavored instant ramen is a staple, and he starts a pot of water boiling on the stove. Next is the dried ramen and seasoning packet, and once the ramen starts to separate, Haku cracks two eggs into the pot. A few more minutes, then he turns off the burner and carries the pot to the table, setting it on a ceramic trivet patterned with white rabbits.

Haku eats the soup right from the steaming pot. His stomach finally stops complaining and he sits back in his chair with a contented sigh, deliberately ignoring the anxiety over the upcoming final stage. He needs a good distraction.

On his bedside table is a book that he's been meaning to pick up ever since Nadeshiko gifted to him as a half-joke. Now is as good a time as any. Haku retrieves the novel and settles back in the chair, needing something without any similarity to his life. The synopsis promises samurai, romance, and intrigue. The cover promises porn.

Three for four isn't bad. Plus, Haku actually enjoys the intrigue aspect of shinobi life. Samurai are a rare sight, though they do, supposedly, exist, Haku has never come across one. Romance is something that he is disallowing himself from getting involved in. Sure, he's pretty, but most shinobi who are interested in him don't see much past that. That and the whole Kiri-traitor thing. It's better to just pretend he doesn't care. And, well, if his romance life is six feet under, his sex life is probably in hell somewhere.

 _Icha Icha_ proves to be a such a good distraction that he's startled to find the ANBU agent standing in his apartment. He glances out the window, then at the clock glowing red on his nightstand. Is it really 0100, already?

The stout woman in what appears to be a bulldog mask speaks gruffly, but without emotion. "Hokage-sama requests your presence. Ten minutes."

Haku scrambles to salute her, then performs one of the quickest clothing changes known to man. It helps that he didn't have much to take off. After a slight hesitation, he secures his empty holsters to his thigh, then ties his hitai-ate on. Ready to leave, he sets his wards and follows Bulldog over the roofs to the Hokage's Palace.

The last memory Haku has of this place consists of disgust at his betrayal of Zabuza and warmth at Yondaime-sama's approval, neither of which are productive right now. He locks the memory away as Bulldog opens the door to an antechamber. A few sleep-deprived candidates are already there, including the green-haired kunoichi. Haku should really get her name, since she's one of Bachyou's friends.

 _Wait_ , Haku wonders, _am I one of Bachyou's friends?_

He's surprised to find that he'd be pleased if the answer was yes. So, maybe he should try being nice.

More candidates filter in as the seconds tick by. Bachyou is the last to enter, and he takes the empty seat on Haku's left, grinning despite the fact that it looks like he took a fireball to the right half of his body.

"Mornin', Haku!" Bachyou says, far too cheerful for the occasion.

"Koeshi," Haku says, aiming for calm, "You're burnt..."

"Oh, this? Psh, it's nothing a few rounds with a medic won't fix. I finished the second trial, didn't I?"

"I figured as much, but doesn't it hurt?" Haku is already rummaging around in his medkit for ibuprofen.

Bachyou reaches out and stays Haku's hand, the skin on his wrist shiny and taut as if he's already had a healing or two. "I said it's fine. Keep me from doing more stupid shit in the future."

Ah. Haku knows all about forgoing medical care to teach a lesson. He shrugs and pops two ibuprofen himself, staving off the soreness in his muscles, then repacks his medkit.

The door on the other side of the room opens and the Vice-Commander's crow mask peers around it. "Mizuno."

The green-haired kunoichi pushes off of the wall and strides into the Hokage's office, the door clicking shut behind her. Haku commits her family name to memory and resolves to introduce himself to her later.

Shizue, a short and stocky kunoichi with mousy brown hair, props herself on one arm of Bachyou's chair. "Making friends, Ba-chan?"

"Oh, you know me. I'm always forging new relationships," Bachyou says with a wave of his hand. "Think Morei'll go easy on them?" He inclines his head towards the door.

"She never goes easy on anything. Her damn toothbrushes have smashed bristles because she doesn't know how to do things halfway." Shizue shakes her head, but she's smiling.

Haku repeats the name in his head, _Mizuno Morei_ , and assigns it to the mental picture of a green-haired kunoichi with proportions like a string bean.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you made it through." Shizue's flat gaze is locked on Haku, and it takes him a second to realize she was talking to him.

"Oh. Thank you." Haku ducks his head away modestly.

"You're welcome. I saw you getting fussed over by the guy in the tanuki mask when I was running up Hokage Mountain."

"He needn't have worried about me. Honestly, with how he was hovering, you'd think I was about to fall over."

Bachyou looks at Haku with a careless grin and says, "Did you?"

Haku rolls his eyes. "Only after I got back to my apartment."

A soft chuckle rumbles through Haku's companions. The conversation dies down as the stress in the room ratchets. Two more candidates are called into the office before Shizue, and none return to the anteroom. Bachyou takes out a kunai and twirls it around his fingers, tracing a complicated pattern in the air.

"So," Bachyou says, eyes on the door, "What do you think is happening in there?"

Haku opens his mouth to answer, but he doesn't get a chance to respond. The Vice-Commander's mocking crow mask looks directly at Haku. "Yuki."

His mouth feels dry and his feet feel leaden, but he walks into the office with his head held high. Bachyou, being an utterly ridiculous person, calls out, "Go get 'em, tiger!"

Crow takes his place behind Monkey, to the right of Yondaime-sama. The director of T&I and the head of Intel stand on the other side, Shibata smiling down at Haku with something like fondness. It suddenly occurs to Haku that the director of T&I and the ANBU Vice-Commander are related, probably father and son. Minato sits in the Hokage's chair, wearing his traditional flame-red robes. Haku drops into the shinobi's kneel and deliberately doesn't remember the last time he was here, when all Minato had to offer him was approval.

"At ease, shinobi," commands Yondaime-sama, and Haku falls into a tense parade rest.

Shibata-sama wastes no time. "If the mission required the loss of innocent life, would we be able to trust in your ability to carry it out?"

Haku looks him in the eye. Since his first week in Konoha was under T&I's care, he realized he had no reason to fear the director, so long as he was honest. "If that was the mission, I would do it. Obviously, I would prefer not to, but I don't know a single decent shinobi who wouldn't rather fight a team of enemy-nin than kill one innocent life."

The painted monkey mask belonging to the ANBU Commander tilts quizzically. _ANBU is not a place for decent shinobi_ , Haku can imagine him saying.

Monkey nods as if he can read Haku's mind. "ANBU is a place for exceptional shinobi. Something especially exceptional is those who are able to retain their humanity after completing such vile tasks."

Haku swallows hard and tries not to make his unease obvious. Is it genuine reassurance, or is this a trap?

The head of Intelligence is a Yamanaka, with a worn, motherly face, but the gaze she turns on Haku is as cool and calculating as the look any enemy-nin would receive. "The mission requires the assassination of a young child. How will you handle yourself after the completion of the task, such that you and your team are undiscovered?"

"As if I was operating in enemy territory, ma'am. I would conceal my chakra and remain as silent as possible." Haku tries to keep the, _Are you an idiot, or do you think I am?_ out of his tone.

"She means emotional repercussions, sweetheart," says Monkey, almost bored. Hokage-sama shoots him a look.

"A mission is no place for a breakdown. Ma'am. Any issues I could potentially have can wait until we walk back through Konoha's gates."

The Yamanaka's eyes narrow, but Hokage-sama and Shibata-sama barely react. The ANBU Commander makes a humming noise, apparently satisfied.

Haku wills himself still. Since that wasn't a question, he feels no need to answer. He's been in worse stress positions than parade rest, but everyone in the room has razor focus on him. It's uncomfortable.

"A teammate of yours is critically injured," says Minato quietly. "They may survive if you remain with them, but your other teammates risk death proceeding to the objective with such diminished numbers. How do you proceed?"

Haku runs his tongue over his teeth, "The mission objective takes priority, Hokage-sama. I have a greater responsibility to my multiple living teammates than to one that is dying."

"What if the two of you are all that remains?" says Shibata in his soft, slurring way. "You have a reasonable chance of succeeding on your own, but they, of course, are still dying."

"In that case, I have confidence in my ability to complete the mission on my own, as quickly as is reasonable, and return to my teammate."

"Such optimism!" says the ANBU Commander, monkey mask leering in the florescent light. "Why not give them the mercy cut? Or would you prefer to prolong their suffering for your sake?"

Haku knows that now is not the time to be contrarian, but he tilts his head. "That depends on the nature of the injury. If it were something like a ruptured spleen, and there was absolutely nothing I could do, then the mercy stroke would be appropriate. If I felt certain that I could save them, I would at least try."

The ANBU Commander sits back a little - Haku can't read disappointment or satisfaction or anything from him.

"Do you feel you would be capable of taking missions in the Land of Water?" says the Intelligence head. _Due to your history_ , Haku supplies.

Haku's expression is blank, but the vicious thing that lives in his gut lifts its head, aching to get its claws on a mist-nin. "I assure you, ma'am," Haku's voice drips with cloying sweetness, "There would be no problems if I was needed there."

Monkey laughs. Hokage-sama's brows lift for a second, and he asks, "If you were to encounter living members of your clan at some future point, would you feel any desire to leave Konoha?"

"No. I would instead convince them to come here. Living in the Land of Water was nothing short of a death sentence for me, but Zabuza-san insisted we stay."

None of them ask after Zabuza, but there is a silence that feels like it goes on for years. Haku flexes the fingers on his right hand.

"You may go, shinobi," Hokage-sama says, clipped, and gestures towards a side door.

Haku doesn't let his shoulders relax until the door shuts behind him and he collapses onto the nearest chair, looking at his hand. The other candidates look about as shaken as he does. Shizue sidles over and sits on the arm of his chair, seeming to prefer that over actual seating. Morei, who's at least somewhat normal-acting, sits in the adjacent chair.

"Hi," Haku says warily.

Morei jerks her chin at him. Shizue replies softly, "Hey. I dunno about you, but Shibata-sama is fucking scary."

Haku snorts, relaxing back into the cushion. "I lived at T&I for a week. He's not that awful, he just doesn't appreciate being lied to."

"Thought we were gonna have to fight Hokage-sama," Morei says gruffly. She has a smoker's voice. "Went in lookin' to throw hands and got chatted up instead."

"Well," Haku says, "I'm sure ANBU appreciates agents who aren't dead."

Morei cackles, though it sounds more like a cough than a laugh. "You're alright, Yuki. Ever play eights?" She takes out two decks of cards.

Haku shakes his head. Morei and Shizue tag team on the rules as the game progresses - both traditional and house. After an hour passes, Bachyou finally passes through the door and the card-playing triangle opens to include him.

"There's four of 'em left," Bachyou says as he lays an eight on the pile. "Hearts."

Haku groans, "Really? You just started!" The complaining is a ruse. Haku actually has a lot of hearts left to give.

"Sometimes being quick on the draw is a good thing," Bachyou winks at Haku, who feels his heart skip a beat and thinks, _gods this is not the time to be crushing on a comrade_.

Shizue flicks him in the ear and Morei sniggers. "Maybe that's why y'can't keep a woman."

Bachyou shrugs, unashamed. "Can't much keep a man, either. S'probably because they're all intimidated by me."

"Oh, please." Shizue rolls her eyes. "Any skilled ninja playing with your squishy bits can be intimidating. Shinobi are just allergic to commitment."

This conversation is quickly spiraling out of Haku's control. He surreptitiously puts the Queen of Hearts on the pile and murmurs, "Back to you, Koeshi."

Bachyou throws the King on top of the pile and looks at Haku with a complicated expression as Morei's turn is skipped. Haku pulls a veneer of calm over himself and pushes any possible subtext out of his mind. They're just playing a game. It's fun. Have fun, Haku, gods.

Another ninety minutes pass before the last candidate enters the room, and it's another twenty until the door to Yondaime-sama's office reopens and the crow-masked Vice-Commander makes an appearance. The village looks gray in the early morning light, cast in the shadow of Hokage Mountain as the sun rises behind it.

"The Hokage has made his determination," says Crow.

Morei collects her cards and shoves them into the pouch at her waist. The candidates silently line back up in front of the Hokage's desk, with Haku on the far west side, but even the Hokage is standing. Haku doesn't dare show any sign of fatigue. He'd have to crane his neck to see all of Konoha's leadership, so he keeps his eyes forward, waiting for the axe to drop.

The Hokage looks at each candidate as he speaks, his voice as serious as the Hero's Stone. "I appreciate all of your service, as well as your desire to continue serving. Yamaguchi, Inoue, and Oka, please follow the Vice-Commander into the west antechamber."

Not only were none of those names Haku's, none of them were anyone he knew all that well. He lets his right hand relax and feels the blood rushing to where his nails dug into his skin. He's so distracted by the relief that he nearly misses the glare from one of the rejected candidates - Oka Tsughi, perhaps - and the soft click of the knob sliding back into place.

"Yuki Haku," the Hokage says, and Haku's head snaps over to look at him. "Will you serve as ANBU of your own free will, knowing its dangers and the sacrifices you will be called to make?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Haku hears himself saying. His voice doesn't waver, but for the first time, he can see the dark circles ringing Minato's eyes and the wrinkles beginning to form. Haku speculates that this isn't much easier for him than it is for the candidates.

Next to Haku, Bachyou's answer rings out like he's never been more sure of anything in his life. Morei's gravelly voice is sandwiched against Shizue's toneless and unassuming alto. Affirmations reverberate down the line.

Minato smiles at the candidates, and the warmth of it sinks into Haku's bones. That much would be enough to last years, but then, Minato speaks. "Thank you, all of you," he says, and Haku shivers down to his toes. The Hokage is thanking _him_.

"Sakamoto-san will take you to ANBU HQ," Yondaime-sama continues, "where the Quartermaster is going to take your measurements and outfit you with some new sharp edges. You all have a lot of paperwork to fill out, too. Meet me back here at sunrise tomorrow to take your oaths and meet your teams. If at any time between now and then you change your mind, let Sakamoto-san or Shibata-san know. Nobody will hold it against you, except maybe the Quartermaster, because he'll be up all night working on your gear. Regardless of what you choose, each and every one of us is grateful for your service."

Then, Hokage-sama bows to the initiates. Haku doesn't jump out of his skin in shock, but it's a near thing, and he makes sure to bow even lower in response. If Haku wasn't backing out before, he's definitely not backing out now.

When Haku straightens back up, the Hokage is smiling at all of them, and Haku soaks it up like sunshine. The Hokage nods at Monkey, who steps forward.

"Ready for the tour?" Monkey says, then leads them out the main doors without waiting for an answer. He runs them down a maze of stairs towards the back of Hokage Palace, through a network of hidden tunnels, across the training field from the first Trial, and down another back-way of stairs in HQ.

They stop in front of an unremarkable door, which Monkey describes as, "The entrance to Morita Rei's personal BDSM dungeon," before he taps out coded knocks on the door.

An assistant opens the door just wide enough to stand in, then bows deeply. "Good morning, Sakamoto-sama. Morita-san will be but a moment." She disappears behind the door.

A short while later, a man with the traditional phenotypes of Kumo swings the door open. Haku notices the lack of beard, but that could just be a fashion choice. He tries not to stare, but it's a weird feeling, meeting yet another person who traded up for Konoha. Something warm curls in Haku's stomach and he feels the corners of his mouth tugging up.

"Ah, thank you, Sakamoto-sama. New blood never fails to liven up my day," Morita says with a flashing white grin as his eyes settle on Haku. "You first, smiles, if you're so eager."

Haku huffs out a breath and follows Morita into the room, where he's instructed to stand upon a low, wooden pedestal.

"Lose the shirt, vest, and hitai-ate," the Quartermaster says, threading a tape measure through his fingers.

Haku is acutely aware of the other candidates' eyes on him as he slips off his garments, carefully folding them and placing them to his right on the pedestal.

Morita circles him with a scrutinizing expression and stops on Haku's left side. "May I?" He says, reaching for the stump of Haku's left arm. Haku holds it out without protest, and Morita palpates it. "Can you feel this? How much do you use your left arm for?"

"Yeah, I can feel it, but it isn't as precise as fingertips are. I...tend to use my arm to block, a lot. I can also channel chakra through it to throw senbon, but my aim isn't as good as with my right hand," Haku admits.

"Hm." Morita examines the slender fingers of Haku's right hand. "Ninjutsu, is it? You'll need a fingerless glove. Do you use anything other than senbon?"

"Kunai, but nothing else, usually. I try to keep my hand free for seals, in case I need to."

"I'd like you to try out a tanto, for short range. You can't block a well-placed strike with your arm. Ekemini, could you-" the assistant from before hands over a tanto in a black leather sheath. "Ah, thank you." Morita places it in Haku's hand. "Play around with it. If you don't like it, for gods' sake, bring it back. I can't tell you how many rookies have lost my weapons under their beds."

Haku can't help but smirk at that, "Don't worry, sir, if I'm displeased I'll bring it back."

"I wonder," Morita says as he starts taking measurements. His hands are around Haku's neck and gone before Haku can react, moving on to measure increasingly obscure proportions. "I could probably make you a custom prosthetic that can latch onto your tanto and leave your right hand free." He thumps Haku's shoulder. "You alone could have me up all night!"

"Sorry, sir." Haku blushes and looks away.

"Yeah, I'll believe it when you come back from your first mission unharmed." He pats Haku's shoulder more gently this time, eyes scanning the candidates. "You, with the burns."

Haku scoops his garments off of the floor and retreats to the corner, where he skins back into his shirt and vest, leaving his hitai-ate dangling from his wrist. He looks up to see the broad, muscled expanse of Bachyou's back, and gasps involuntarily. Once his brain catches up with where his blood is headed, he manages a single, terse question. "Where do we go to fill out our paperwork, Morita-san?"

Morita doesn't look up from Bachyou's chest, fingers probing what is hopefully an old injury. "Room X-2. You should've passed it on the way here. Koeshi, do you always block with your chest? I might not have armor strong enough for you."

Haku bows and scurries out of the room, retracing the path the candidates took, and eventually finds Room X-2 one floor up in one of the middle spots. He grabs a stack of forms from the desk and a pen, then finds a worktable in the corner of the room. Focusing on the pressure of pen on paper as he copies down familiar information and marks each page with his signature helps to resettle him. Bachyou enters the room and Haku thinks he's going to ask uncomfortable questions, but he respectfully takes a chair a few seats away. Close enough if Haku wants to talk, but far enough away that he doesn't have to.

Haku finishes his paperwork, drops it off on the desk, and pauses in the doorway. "Thank you, Koeshi. See you at sunrise tomorrow." He doesn't wait for Bachyou's response, he just traces his way through HQ's corridors and out into the sun.

Thanks to the trees, there are enough shadows for Haku to conceal himself on the short run back to his apartment. He drops into the kitchen chair and gives his fish a withering look.

"Oh, Ryuuki-kun, I worry I'm making a huge mistake."

What, exactly, that mistake is, Haku can't quite articulate. Ryuuki-kun burrows himself in one of the seaweed plants.

"That's true. I'll probably feel better once everything is packed. We're moving to the barracks tomorrow, and I'll get my mask! What do you think it'll be?"

Ryuuki-kun blows bubbles out of his mouth.

"A fish is a little cliche for a Water Country brat. Maybe I'll be a bunny..." Haku's voice trails off, and he remembers Shiro, his old pet rabbit from years ago, who is probably dead.

Haku shakes his head to clear the thought away and lays out a sealing scroll. By this time tomorrow, he'll be a true member of ANBU. He hums giddily as he packs.


	12. All Around Me Are Familiar Faces

_Yondaime-sama's head would be a good place to watch the sunrise_ , Haku thinks as he hops over rooftops in the pre-dawn darkness, but he can't dawdle this morning. The sky is beginning to lighten, though the sun hasn't crested the horizon, yet. Even so, when he winds his way up the stairs to the Hokage's Office, he is the last one to enter the west anteroom.

Morita tugs him back out into the hall and shoves a stack of black fabric into his hands. "Strip. Were you _trying_ to give your detractors hope that you wouldn't show?"

"That just makes the disappointment all the more devastating," Haku says, and wastes no time taking off his blues and setting them folded on top of a chair. The black underpinnings are incredibly tight, leaving nothing to the imagination. His left wrist is covered with a sheer fabric sock of sorts, as opposed to the plate-backed glove on his right hand. Compared to how loose his blues fit, and his teal haori before that, it would be an adjustment. Just like everything else.

"You're quite a piece of work, aren't you? Arms up, above your head." Haku does as told and Morita slides on the plate armor, white as bone. Already, he feels himself standing straighter. The weight of the armor helps him center himself, furthered by the arm and shin guards and heavy black boots.

Morita hooks his fingers into a loop at the back of Haku's pants. "Put your tanto here, if you decide you like it. You can tie your holsters back on, and then I'll give you the finishing touch."

Once Haku's senbon and kunai holsters are retied on his right thigh, Morita grabs his left wrist and slots something onto it.

It's a prosthetic unlike anything Haku has ever seen. There are no fingers, instead, a coil of hard rubber spirals up from the edge and narrows to a blunt point, like a cone with the top cut off. The material channels chakra like a dream, and he tries grabbing a kunai from his holster. He finds he can handle it with greater accuracy and less wasted chakra, but still not as easily as before his hand was amputated.

Haku may have been a killer before, but now he felt like one. He wasn't sure what to do with the pleasant feelings surrounding this development, but Morita was definitely responsible in part, so he should probably be acknowledged.

"Thank you, Morita-san." Haku bows deeply.

"Yeah, yeah, kid. Now get in there, before they get tired of waiting for you." Morita swivels Haku around and pushes him towards the west antechamber.

Haku's heart sinks when he enters the chamber and knows none of the candidates. Bachyou and his friends must have taken their oaths already. Haku stands in the corner and watches the door to the Hokage's Office, arms crossed over his chest.

Suddenly, the door opens and Monkey steps through. "Yuki."

Haku strides purposefully into the Hokage's Office. When Monkey shuts the door behind Haku, he quips, "The early bird gets the worm, I suppose, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

As Haku dips into the shinobi's kneel, he wonders what all the animal imagery could be about, before he realizes Monkey is referencing his mask. Is it a _mouse_? That's not particularly scary.

Minato looks down at Haku with something like pride as he picks up a mask from his desk, keeping it carefully turned so that Haku can't see the design. "You've grown, Haku. I can't tell you how pleased I am to see that Konoha has allowed you to blossom, not only as a shinobi, but as a person. You're probably expecting me to tell you to kill your heart with a blade, and become the perfect emotionless tool."

Minato sighs. "That can work, for a time, but those shinobi are usually the ones we end up having to chase. As I'm sure you know, ANBU is not known for being easy, or for being kind. You will have to do things that will make your stomach turn. Some people in the village will fear what you stand for - but, ah, that's nothing new for you, is it? My advice is this: We are only human after all. I implore you, instead, to embrace that side of you, to become attached to your team, and allow them, in turn, to become attached to you. Because trying to ignore your humanity will make you worse for wear, either because you become detached from the needs of your teammates, or plunge into needless self-sacrifice." Minato glances pointedly at the stump of Haku's missing hand. Haku feels his breath curdle in his throat.

"ANBU teams require cohesion, teamwork, and _worthwhile_ self-sacrifice. I trust that you can follow through."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Haku says, eyes focused on Minato's feet.

Minato makes a sound of approval, and turns the mask over in his fingers, holding it out for Haku to see. "Take the face you will present to the world and swear your allegiance."

It's a crane. Specifically, a red-crowned crane, like the ones that live in the snowy regions of Water Country. Haku takes it daintily in his fingers and holds it up to his face.

"Then again," Monkey says from behind him, taking the straps and tying the mask to Haku's face. "Cranes don't really care for worms or cheese, do they?"

Monkey steps away. "Repeat after me. I am Yuki Haku, ANBU. I have no face but this face."

Haku repeats it, breath curling back on him. His voice sounds weird and muffled. It would be so easy to assume another persona to hide behind.

"I have no heart but the heart of Konohagakure."

He thinks of all of the people living within the walls, the ones who didn't think twice of a new shinobi being here, of Nadeshiko and Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura, who welcomed him with open arms that first week. Of Bachyou and Shizue and Morei, who made him even more excited to earn a spot in ANBU.

Haku's voice rings out clear as the rising dawn.

"I have no will but the will of my Hokage."

That was always true. Or, at least it had been for the past three years. Haku would still live and die on Minato's word.

Haku's voice rings out like a death knell.

"Rise, Agent Yuki," Yondaime-sama says. Haku can't sense any emotion from his voice as he stands and snaps to attention, but the look on Minato's face is pleased, yet somewhat sad. Haku wonders how many of the people who have knelt before the Hokage have come back as a set of dog tags. He doesn't want to be one more reason behind the melancholy in Minato's eyes.

"Hokage-sama." Haku bows.

 _No needless self-sacrifice, it is._

Monkey directs Haku to the other door. "You'll wait in here to meet your team. I think you will be pleasantly surprised."

"Sakamoto-sama." Haku bows again and takes a seat on the cushioned armchair as the door clicks shut.

* * *

"Taichou," Kakashi interrogates as he follows Katsuko down the halls of Hokage Palace, "Why are we getting a rookie? Everyone here is at least ten years a veteran."

"Sometimes," Genma answers sagely, "Veterans will be assigned rookies when Yondaime-sama thinks they're getting too complacent."

"That doesn't explain you and taichou, though, Shiranui-fukuchou," Kurenai says.

Katsuko would bet Genma's ears are pink as he replies. "I'm flattered, Yuuhi-"

"It's because Hokage-sama wants to break me in." Katsuko interrupts. "This is only my second year being a captain, and my first with a rookie."

"Maybe Minato-sensei thinks we have something to learn," Kakashi says, not sounding entirely convinced.

Katsuko just laughs. She can't wait until Kakashi and Kurenai find out who their new teammate is.

* * *

The door swings open and Haku stands up, immediately straightening into attention. A team troops in, led by a woman in a rat mask Haku doesn't recognize, followed by three masks Haku does. Rat has a huge bonfire of a chakra presence, and it almost reminds Haku of Zabuza's, but it's much less sinister feeling. He immediately trusts her.

Rat puts her hands on her hips. "Good morning, Yuki! Welcome to Team Nine. I'm your captain, Ueno Katsuko. My lovely lieutenant is Shiranui Genma, with veterans Yuuhi Kurenai and Hatake Kakashi."

It was nice to have that theory of Haku's confirmed. He salutes each member of the team - his team - then acknowledges the members he already knows.

"Hello, Leopard," Haku says genially.

"Hound. Lieutenant Tanuki," he says somewhat less genially.

There's a smile in his captain's voice. "Oh, good! You already know each other. Well, let's get going! We've got a schedule to keep." She about-faces and leads the way out the door.

Haku ends up sandwiched between Leopard and Hound as they run through the tunnels into HQ's basement, with Tanuki taking up the rear guard. They reach an unmarked door that they wait outside of for a couple of minutes, until another team walks out.

The unmistakable silhouette of his new friend comes into Haku's view, alongside the long, black braid of his old one. A woman with a mousy brown bob stands between them.

Bachyou in his crocodile mask tips his chin at Haku. Shizue remains professional and motionless as a badger. Nadeshiko's goshawk mask tilts in amusement and she waves at Haku, who raises his hand in greeting.

At least his friends seem to be having fun, though he doesn't recognize the masks of their captain or lieutenant. The taller of the two is a man built like a brick house with a single red crescent cutting across one eye of his stark white mask. The shorter is an incredibly gangly woman with buzz cut honey-blonde hair and an elephant mask with blue half-moons under its eyes.

Then, Haku gets his tattoo, and he doesn't even faint, because he ate breakfast. The connection to his team and other ANBU makes him nearly shiver with gladness. Already, they're his, and he's theirs. He would do his utmost not to betray the trust placed in him.

"Kakashi fainted at his tattooing," Rat says smugly, looking over her shoulder as they run up a set of stairs, "You're a tough one, snowpuff."

Haku is grateful that she can't she him blushing underneath his mask. "Thank you, Ueno-taichou," he replies stiffly.

"Taichou, you're ruining my reputation already," says Hound plaintively, as they run deeper into HQ.

"Oh, hush. You know that 'fainting petal of Konoha' is on your Bingo Book page," Rat scoffs.

Haku has to stifle a laugh as they slow their pace, jogging through the carpeted office-looking beige hallways. The irony is not lost on him, that a building full of professional assassins would look so domestic.

"Stop doing that, it's annoying," Hound says from behind Haku, who's experimenting with concealing and flaring his tattoo spark, trying to feel if his awareness of the others changes.

Finally, they stop in front of a door labeled "W1QB". Then Rat forms a seal to disengage the wards and hands Haku a small silver key, and Team Nine steps into a windowless office.

Tanuki hangs his mask to one of the hooks on the wall, and the others hang their masks to their belts. Haku mimics them. Rat and Tanuki sit in the swivel chairs at their desks, so Haku stakes his claim on one of the smaller ones in the corner. Hound and Leopard sit on the couch, Leopard's feet tucked under herself.

Haku looks around at his teammates, and is somewhat irked to find they're all at least ten years older than he is, even Leo- Kurenai and Kakashi.

"I thought Yondaime-sama might have something better for you to do than babysit me," Haku says to the two of them.

Kurenai unfolds herself and interjects before Kakashi can say something irritated. "Indeed, and it's being members of your team. Unless you think you need to be babysat?"

Haku averts his eyes before it's a challenge. Of course he doesn't need to be babysat, he's not a child.

Katsuko clears her throat, and Haku looks up at her. "Welcome to Team Nine's office. Feel free to come here whenever you want, even if it's just to annoy both of your senpai."

Haku does flush, that time, but he forces himself not to look away. Seeming satisfied, Katsuko continues the tutorial, though Haku is embarrassed to have need of it.

"We all hate paperwork, but I expect every dead tree to be filled with ink and returned to its proper location on time. If you need new senbon or kunai, or more soldier pills, req forms for the QM are in here." Katsuko knocks two knuckles on the middle drawer of a filing cabinet, before opening the second one from the bottom and wheeling herself over to Haku with a thick leather-bound booklet in hand.

"ANBU hand code, learn it, love it, live it. If you want, I'm sure Kurenai-chan or Kakashi-kun would be happy to quiz you."

Haku takes the booklet and, nowhere better to put it, slips it inside of the desk.

"Ah, good point, snowflake. Anything you put inside your desk won't be messed with, but if you leave it out, it's fair game. Ditto for you and other people's stuff, understand?"

"Yes, taichou," Haku answers.

Suddenly, all levity is gone in Katsuko's posture. She pins Haku with a grave look, her jaw set. "I want you to know that if you have any problems, you can come to any of us, okay? We'll take you seriously."

Haku searches her face for a moment, then nods. "I understand."

"Good. Oh, one last thing, but I don't think it'll be a problem, here. No fraternizing with a senior officer, blah blah, you know the rules." She winks at Genma and Kurenai. Genma reshuffles some papers on his desk, his ears pink. Haku raises an eyebrow at that.

Katsuko pushes off of the floor and spins in her chair, "Hm, I think that's it for me. Fukuchou, anything Yuki needs to know from you?"

Genma clears his throat, "Yes. We're serious about respecting any concerns you may have."

Kakashi sits up straighter and Kurenai nods. Of course, Haku thinks he can't really go to them. He has to prove that he's worthy of his tattoo.

"But on a lighter note," Genma continues, "Let me know what your favorite flavor of rat bar is. I keep a box under my desk, so I'll make sure you're well-stocked."

Haku mulls it over for a little bit, then settles on a flavor. "The fruit and nut ones are alright."

Genma nods, like he's actually taking Haku's preference into consideration.

Katsuko claps her hands together and stands up. "That's that. Training is at 0700 daily, except Sunday. You have Sundays off. The rest of today is yours to enjoy. Or not, I'm not in charge of your off-duty lives."

Genma, Kakashi, and Kurenai also stand, tapping two fingers to their ANBU tattoos. Haku quickly copies them, and Katsuko smiles down at them before tossing Haku another key. This one is brass, with a number etched into it - the key to his room in the barracks.

"Now go and wreak havoc on the world, my minions."

Haku ties his mask back on and winds through HQ's maze of hallways out into the sunshine. Since the rest of the day is his to use, he translocates to his apartment building in two quick jumps. His jounin wear is sitting outside of his door, so he brings it inside and seals it into a scroll containing the rest of his clothes. After a short hesitation, he unfurls the scroll again and folds his ANBU gear into it, taking out a cropped short tank top with a floral pattern on it, white jean cutoff shorts, and flip flops. He takes two senbon from his holster and uses them to pin up his hair, which is growing almost past his shoulders now. He needs to get it cut.

The last thing to pack is Ryuuki-kun. Haku is probably going to have to carry him. He purses his lips and starts to form the seals for a shadow clone, before there's a knock on his window and he abruptly aborts the jutsu.

Kakashi, wearing standard blues with his hitai-ate covering his left eye, leaps into Haku's apartment as soon as Haku opens the window to question him. "Yuki." Kakashi nods.

"Hatake-senpai," Haku says warily, "I was just about to move in to my new apartment. Was there something you needed from me?"

"Tousaki is going to be eating lunch with his team at Ichiraku soon, like he does every Wednesday. He keeps asking after you because he knows you were trying out for ANBU." Kakashi shrugs. "You could assuage his fears by existing in his general vicinity."

Haku's mouth opens and closes like Ryuuki-kun's. Ryouma wants to check up on him? It has been a few months since Haku caught up with Sasuke, Naruto, or Sakura, too, and he does want to know what they've been doing.

"Okay, I'll come with you, so long as you help me carry Ryuuki-kun up to the barracks."

Kakashi seems to notice the fish for the first time, and his one visible eyebrow quirks up. Haku stares him down until he rolls his eye and picks up the tank.

Haku tucks the scrolls containing all of his belongings into his pockets and takes one last look around the room that has been his home for the past three years. Kakashi tilts his head towards Hokage Mountain, and Haku nods.

* * *

Naruto slurps his noodles at Ichiraku Ramen as he catches up with his old team. He, Sasuke, and Sakura have started to follow their own paths, but that hasn't stopped them from-

A cherry tomato bounces off of Naruto's nose, followed by Sasuke's low voice. "If you'd stop daydreaming for one second, you'd notice Ryouma-sensei asked you a question."

Naruto pops the tomato into his mouth. "What'd he say?"

"You should stop throwing tomatoes at each other, first of all. You're supposed to be chuunin," Ryouma says, chin propped on his elbow and looking amused.

"You're a tomato," Naruto replies, mouth full of food.

Sakura shakes her head, but she's smiling. "Every time I see you, you make less sense."

Naruto sniffs and says, "You three just don't understand my genius," which earns him another tomato to the face.

A subtle and familiar chakra flare makes Naruto swivel around on his stool with a big grin on his face, arms spread wide. "Niisan!"

Kakashi gives him his classic eye-squinting smile, and that's when Naruto notices Haku, who is standing slightly behind Kakashi.

Haku raises his right arm in a half-wave and says, "I do hope I'm not interrupting anything. Hatake-senpai pointedly suggested that I join you all for lunch." Naruto's eyes are drawn to what looks like blood coursing down the pale curve of Haku's left shoulder.

Ryouma looks between Haku and Kakashi before a grin breaks out on his face. "Hatake-senpai, huh? Guess I gotta buy you lunch, too, Haku. As congratulations."

"Oh. No, Ryouma, it's fine. I can pay for my own lunch," Haku says, cheeks turning pink.

Naruto shoves Sasuke and Sakura over two stools, to their performative complaints, and pats the one to his right. "C'mon up and sit, Haku. Tell us what ANBU is like! Who's on your team?"

Haku, being just over five foot, has to hoist himself up onto the stool. "That's classified," he says, once he's finally settled, and Naruto groans.

Kakashi takes the stool between Haku and Ryouma. "Ueno and Shiranui are our captain and lieutenant," he says nonchalantly, amidst a betrayed look from Haku.

"No sh-" Ryouma stops himself before he can swear. "No sugar. Who's your fifth?"

Kakashi lets the silence draw out until Naruto feels like he's going to implode, but he finally answers. "Yuuhi."

"I just miss all the fun, don't I?" Ryouma says, looking a little downcast.

Naruto takes advantage of his newfound reach to lean back and pat his former sensei on the arm. "You still have fun with us, right?"

"If not, we might have to kill him," Sasuke drawls.

"Or at least bruise him," Sakura says brightly.

Ryouma chuckles. "Alright, you got me. What have you all been doing while I'm missing all the reunions?"

Sakura pipes up, pride in her voice. "Rin-sensei took me on as an apprentice."

"Wait, do you mean _Director of the Hospital_ Nohara Rin-sensei?" Haku interjects.

"Yup! Ryouma-sensei has also been teaching me his _Nikutai Tokasu no Jutsu_ , which Rin-sensei is interested in," Sakura answers, and Haku shudders involuntarily, grabbing the stump of his left arm and remembering the feeling of his hand being rotted off.

Sakura notices this and passes Haku a piece of tamago. "Sorry. I won't bring it up again."

Haku accepts the apology egg, but mentally chastises himself for being weak.

"Wow, Tousaki," Kakashi says sarcastically, "You're taking on disciples before teaching me?"

"You 'n' I both know that you'd end up zapping whatever you're rotting, and your poor sensitive nose will abandon your pretty face," Ryouma replies cheerfully. "How 'bout you, Naruto?"

"Oh! Dad's teaching me how to paint and use Hiraishin seals. I don't quite have the chakra control for it, yet, but I'll get there!" Naruto's blue eyes gleam with excitement.

"I believe in you," Haku says with open honesty. "And you, Sasuke? What have you been learning?"

Sasuke shrugs. "I have a job sorting files at the Jutsu Records Office, which will hopefully lead to a research position. My doujutsu would be useful, there."

"That's why I joined ANBU, where my Hyouton is the most useful." Haku nods, then looks up at the position of the sun and hops off of the stool. "Oh, shoot, I'm late! I forgot I was supposed to meet my friend fifteen minutes ago. Thank you for inviting me along with you, Hatake-senpai."

Haku taps two fingers to his left shoulder, then translocates away.

Ryouma has a bemused expression on his face. "He remind you of anyone, Kakashi-kun?"

"Can't say he does, Ryouma-chan," Kakashi replies, and Ryouma chuckles.

"Do you two ever stop flirting? It's weird seeing my brother and sensei get all mushy." Naruto wrinkles his nose.

Kakashi ruffles a hand through Naruto's unruly hair. "Remember when I told you Ryouma would turn you into a people puddle? That offer still stands."

"Stop threatening my chuunin, 'Kashi, that's my job," Ryouma says mildly.

"So is eating your lunch, and you've barely made a dent." Kakashi does the food-vanishing trick on one of the pork cutlets in Ryouma's bowl, to Ryouma's chagrin.

"If you wanna eat my food, you should ask nicely."

Sasuke, having finished his meal, taps Sakura on the back of her hand, who then taps Naruto on his. The three of them make a hasty retreat while Kakashi and Ryouma are distracted. Once they're halfway down the street, Sakura calls out, "Thanks for paying for our lunch, Ryouma-sensei!"

The three chuunin share a laugh as they hop up onto the rooftops and race to the training fields, looking forward to pounding each other into the dirt for the remainder of the day.


	13. Snakes in the Grass

After a week of hard training with his new team, Haku is starting to get tired of being tackled onto his back. He lets himself feel a little smug when he outpaces Kakashi in a footrace, though.

The screeching call of a messenger hawk comes from overhead, but Haku ignores it in lieu of blocking Kakashi's kodachi strike with his own tanto. They trade thrusts and parries a few more times before Katsuko whistles. "Kids, we've got a mission!"

Haku pauses and straightens up, which gives Kakashi the opportunity to hook a foot around his ankle and drop him to the ground again. Haku blows a stray lock of hair out of his face and gives Kakashi's flashstepping back an unamused look, then pushes himself off the ground and translocates to attention in front of his captain.

Katsuko shoves the memo into her bra and lifts her arm so that the hawk takes off again. "Meet up at our office in fifteen for a briefing. In your blacks and - preferably - showered."

Haku throws her a quick salute, then sprints to the barracks. He makes a brief stop at his room to pick up his soap, towel, and uniform scroll before taking a two-minute shower and shimmying into his blacks. The fabric clings to his damp skin as he fastens on his armor, one-handed. He secures his prosthetic and, last but not least, ties on his mask. With five minutes remaining, Haku runs across the grounds and through HQ, navigating the maze of hallways to arrive at room W1QB. His breathing is only a little labored when he sits down at his desk, back ramrod straight, though that could be attributed to the excitement. Who were they going to get to kill, today?

Katsuko is poring over a litany of maps and files on her desk, mask tilted to the side of her head. Genma points out locations in a low murmur, and Katsuko shakes her head. Kurenai watches them both, and Kakashi...

"You're late, sugar bun," Katsuko says without looking up.

Kakashi shrugs. "Only by a minute. I have a reputation to uphold." He takes up a position looking over Katsuko's shoulder. Haku gets the feeling he should be over there, too, so he scrambles out of his chair, sliding his mask off his face.

"Alright, kids," Katsuko addresses the group, hands on her hips. "Looks like we're handing over some valuable supplies for Kusa at a drop-off point in the Land of Plains. Since Plains borders Earth Country, we're also expected to keep our ears open for intel about Iwa. That also means we have a very small expense account, so we can get the locals loose-lipped."

Haku can't help but feel a little disappointed that his first ANBU mission is nothing more than a glorified delivery service, but he doesn't let his shoulders sag. Instead, he looks up at Katsuko. "What should we pack? And when should we be prepared to leave, taichou?"

Katsuko smiles down at Haku, "Good questions, snowpuff. Wear your blacks, but pack your gear, some blues, and some civvies. It's our first mission, so all of our kits should be fully stocked, but double-check 'em for me just in case." She tosses Haku her medkit, then looks at Genma. "Think 0100 at the North Gate gives us enough time, fukuchou?"

Genma hands his medkit over to Haku, chewing on the senbon in his mouth before responding. "It should. Yuki, make sure all the kits have morphine, we can't keep it on us when we're off-mission. Three syrettes for taichou and me, and one for each of the rest of you."

"Are we expecting a fight, Lieutenant?" Haku asks as the pile of medkits in his arms doubles with the addition of Kurenai's and Kakashi's.

"I hope it doesn't come to that." Genma's senbon twitches as he frowns. "Grass is our ally, but we can never be too careful in the border countries. As much as we'll be listening for information on Iwa, they'll probably be just as interested in us. I know I don't have to remind any of you to stay vigilant."

Each member of Team Nine shares a grave look, then Haku awkwardly salutes his officers and scurries off towards the medical supply office.

* * *

The rendezvous at 0100 comes with Haku passing out medkits and Katsuko passing out two sealed scrolls to each member. They weigh about half of a kilogram each, which shouldn't be much of a problem for five experienced jounin and special-jounin. Everyone is already wearing their masks.

Kurenai turns the scrolls over in her hands before securing them to her utility belt. "What are we delivering, taichou?"

"Plenty of burn cream and exploding tags. Kusa pays well for the best," Katsuko says smugly.

"If they have the formulas, why not make their own?" Haku questions.

"Fire Country is lucky to be fertile enough that we can source our own medicinal herbs and gunpowder." Genma shrugs. "It might be cheaper for our allies to outsource if the growing conditions aren't prime."

"Well," Katsuko muses, "Not _all_ medicinal herbs. Anyways, enough dawdling, it's five days to Shiratsukawa, four if we push."

Team Nine sets out in the shape of a rough pentagon. Katsuko takes point, Kakashi and Haku trailing on her left and right sides, and Kurenai and Genma behind them, though slightly more towards the center. At first, Katsuko and Kakashi take turns pointing out flora and fauna that resemble each other, but the conversation dies down after the first two hours, when being silent is more necessary to remain safe.

Or as safe as ninja ever are.

Haku, not for the first time, feels grateful for the ANBU tattoo spark. He doesn't have to swing his head around looking for his teammates, he can just feel them there. Even as the sun sets and they run under the dim light of a half-moon, he senses them.

Unfortunately, he can also feel the air growing more humid. It's probably going to rain.

Team Nine comes across a small creek. Katsuko leaps down out of the trees and the rest follow her. They've been running for ten hours, making it 2330 now.

"Time to bed down and call it a night," Katsuko says, rat mask surveying her team shrewdly. "Hound, Tanuki, scout the perimeter while Leopard sets wards. I'll send some clones out to catch us dinner and look at the map again. Crane?"

"Yes, taichou?" Haku says, spine snapping straight.

"You can dig the latrine."

"Of course," Haku replies tersely, tapping two fingers to his tattoo. _They must not see me as worthy_ , he thinks, _that's why I'm on bathroom duty_. It doesn't occur to him that it's a rookie thing, not a Haku thing, to shovel shit.

Once he finishes digging the hole downstream of camp, he returns to see Genma and Kakashi setting up a smokeless fire and spit. A few rabbits are cooking over the flame, and while Haku isn't one to turn his nose up at offered food, that strikes a little close to home. He retreats back to the wider part of the creek and catches a pumpkinseed sunfish with his single, gloved hand, then, after cleaning it, tosses the guts back into the water and watches other fish fight over the entrails. Maybe someone else would prefer fish, as well, so he spears another one with a senbon and carries it over to the fire.

Genma's tanuki mask tilts up, regarding Haku for a moment before he says, "Ah, thank you, Crane. You can get out the pan from that scroll and start cooking those."

Kakashi peers over Haku's shoulder, then nods in approval. "I'll take the one on your senbon. You catch it, you clean it, though."

Haku makes quick work of the skewered fish and sets the pan with the filets in it on a stand on top of the fire. He basks silently in the warmth of campfire cooking for a moment before springing up to check out the maps.

Katsuko looks up at Haku, mask tilted askew to reveal her face, and she smiles as she greets him. "Come to keep your lonely old captain company, Crane?"

Haku shrugs and sits down crosslegged, taking off his prosthetic and rubbing his stump through the sheer fabric. It feels like his hand, the one that doesn't exist anymore, is clenched, and that he has blisters on top of it.

"Tanuki can give you a chafe stick, if you ask nicely," Katsuko says, then points to a spot on the map about a hundred and fifty kilometers northwest of Konoha. "We're here, and making good time so far. If we keep going like this, we'll have time to poke around in Shiratsukawa before our connection shows."

Haku nods, having nothing else to say.

"Something got your goat, kiddo? You seem awful quiet."

"No, it's nothing. I'm grateful for the opportunities that Team Nine will bring me."

"Mmhm. You shouldn't lie to your captain, y'know. It's okay to have emotions, so long as they don't affect you on-mission. So, I'll ask again. What's wrong?"

Haku sighs, carefully constructing his answer. "This is...ANBU isn't what I expected it to be, so far. Yondaime-sama wouldn't have sent me on a delivery mission if he trusted me to handle an assassination mission."

Katsuko makes more humming noises. Haku gets the impression she thinks that he's being stupid.

"Or, Crane, you're just a rookie," Katsuko finally says. "Instead of asking why Yondaime-sama would send _you_ on this mission, ask why he'd send Team Nine on this mission."

"I don't understand, taichou," Haku says, throttled. "I joined ANBU because I want to be useful-"

"Delivering valuable supplies to an allied border village isn't useful?"

"No, that's not what I meant. It is useful, but any shinobi could do that. My Hyouton has no specific utility here."

Katsuko's frown cuts through Haku like a knife through butter. "It doesn't have to, Crane. _Team_ Nine was chosen for this mission because you four are uniquely good at stealth, and all of us are extremely lethal in our own rights, just in case we run into enemy-nin. Which, by the way, is pretty damn likely. Did you know Leopard used to be Intel? Or are only your skills valuable?"

Haku flushes underneath his mask, grateful that his captain can't see it. "No, taichou," he says softly.

Katsuko sighs, and her expression softens. "Look, I don't know what happened to you. Your file's classified to hell and back, but so is mine. What I do know is that you are a skilled shinobi who deserves a spot on this team. Seeing you hold your own against each of us in training proved that."

Haku searches her face for any trace of a lie, and when he doesn't find it, he pushes his mask aside and offers her a small, but genuine, smile. "Thank you, taichou."

The smell of roast fish and rabbit wafts over, and Haku's stomach rumbles. Katsuko laughs, a bright cackling sound, and hops up to a standing position. When Katsuko and Haku get to the fire, Genma and Kurenai have already staked their claims on the rabbit, and Kakashi lays the pan of fish next to him on a rock. Katsuko takes an entire rabbit for herself, and Haku squats on the other side of the pan.

Hungry ninja aren't much for conversation, but Haku marvels at the fact that Kakashi can eat without revealing the lower half of his face.

"If you're interested in what's under my mask, Lieutenant Tanuki got to see my face, once," Kakashi tells Haku. "I was dying of chakra exhaustion."

Genma sounds faintly alarmed when he replies. "Please do not attempt to do that again, no matter how much Crane wants to see it."

"Will you let us put bows in your hair?" Katsuko asks innocently.

"Only if I'm high," Kakashi says.

Katsuko pouts, but then Kurenai says, "There are other things than morphine to get high on," which cheers Katsuko up significantly. Haku watches this exchange in wonder, chin propped on his right hand.

Suddenly, Haku stands up and walks upwind of the fire, nose pointed towards the sky. "We packed tents, right, taichou?" He closes his eyes and feels a call-and-response between his chakra and the water in the air. "I estimate it will be ten minutes before the rain starts. We've been running ahead of it this whole time."

Katsuko nods and leaps up to her feet. "Alright, then. Crane and Leopard can pitch the tents, and Tanuki and Hound can make us some earth platforms so our asses don't get soaked. I'll clear up our gear and maps."

To Haku's surprise, everyone springs into action, as if they trust his judgement. He joins Kurenai and the two of them quickly hammer the pikes of three tents into the ground. One of the tents is slightly smaller than the others - probably the captain's. After each tent is pitched, Kakashi and Genma raise exact dirt platforms with the ease of shinobi who have a little earth in their blood.

Haku looks curiously over at Kakashi. "I thought you had Lightning and Water affinities."

"And Earth, if we're being technical about it," Kakashi replies, gray eye alight. "Your Water affinity is probably stronger than mine, but I could smell the rain coming, anyways."

"Smell...?" Haku could always smell rain after it had scoured the earth clean, but not before or while it was occurring.

Kurenai smiles at Haku. "Oh, Hound didn't tell you? He's actually half dog."

"I thought that was the Inuzuka." Haku's brow furrows in confusion.

"True," Kakashi replies, disappearing into one of the larger tents. He pokes his head through the tent flap to say, "I'm only one-sixteenth dog, by that logic."

While Haku is left to ponder that, Kurenai follows Kakashi into his tent and Katsuko dives into her own with a cheerful, "Goodnight, kids!"

And then there were two. Genma opens the tent flap and gestures for Haku to enter first. Haku resists the urge to roll his eyes and slips under Genma's outstretched arm, laying out his bedroll on the right side of the tent. Genma's bedroll appears as far away from his as it can be, which is about ten centimeters away.

Haku unclips the buckles on his armor and wrestles off his boots, rubbing at the developing calluses on his feet. All of his gear makes a small pile at the foot of his bedroll. Finally, he takes off the nylon sleeve on his left arm and grimaces at the rubbed raw skin, already starting to blister. The first raindrops start to patter on the canvas walls.

"Fukuchou?" Haku says softly. "May I please have a chafe stick?"

"Sure, I keep plenty around," Genma replies, producing one from his medkit and tossing it to Haku. "Do you want me to take a look at it first?"

Haku hesitates, then scoots closer to Genma and silently holds out his arm. Genma's fingers are warm and professional as he assesses the stump and its new abrasions, then says, "I can use a simple healing jutsu, if you'd like."

"I would like, but doesn't that just take care of the surface?"

"Is there something deeper that you're worried about?" Genma's fingers run through a set of seals so familiar it looks like breathing, and he sets a green glow to Haku's left wrist.

Haku tries to focus on the corner of the tent as he responds, still not used to the weird feeling of rapidly growing flesh. "Phantom pains."

"Ah. I don't have a jutsu for that, but I can try redirecting some of the chakra flow." The green glow fades and Genma lets go of Haku's arm, revealing fresh skin grown over the abrasions, perhaps a week's worth of healing.

Haku huffs out a breath and brandishes his stump. "Anything that can make my muscles relax, I'll take."

Genma's gentle hands take Haku's arm again, and Haku can feel the warmth of Genma's chakra sinking into his pathways, in every respect Haku's opposite. Fire and Earth brush up against Wind and Water before ebbing away.

"Hm," Genma says judiciously. "I have some medical senbon that I can use to gate your chakra, but you'd have to take them out when you reattach your prosthetic. It's only a short-term solution."

Haku sighs as Genma places T-bars at key points in his wrist, then yawns. "I expected as much. The medics who initially healed me, it didn't quite matter to them if the new paths my chakra settled into were healthy."

"You're ANBU, now. I'm sure the physical therapists at the hospital can make time to treat one of Konoha's elite."

Eventually, that was going to sink in. Haku nods, vowing to do so at the soonest opportunity, salutes Genma, then shimmies down under his blanket. With the pain in his wrist barely an echo of what it was, he's asleep before his head hits his makeshift pillow.

* * *

Team Nine camps out three more times and arrives on the outskirts of Shiratsukawa at sunset on the fifth day of the mission. Tall grasses blow gently in the breeze, which nearly makes Haku shiver with pleasure. It isn't often that his Wind affinity feels its echoes in nature.

Katsuko hooks her thumbs into her waistband, Rat mask surveying her team. "Leopard, are we going to spook everyone too much in jounin wear?"

Kurenai nods. "We're not in Fire Country anymore, so it wouldn't be wise to wear anything that would identify us at Konoha-nin. On the contrary, Hound-kun is the most recognizable of us, and a pretty boy with a missing hand isn't easily forgettable."

"In that case, Leopard, Tanuki, and I will put on civvies and get some locals wasted. Hound and Crane, shadow us and radio in if you scent Iwa trash."

Haku sighs internally, but turns his back to the senior members of his team as they get changed. So much for a night on the town. He and Kakashi trail behind the rest of their team, melted into the shadows and completely silent.

As they enter through the vastly under-protected gates of Shiratsukawa, Haku takes note of the atmosphere in the small town. The buildings are dingy and old-looking, but the civilian inhabitants shout with raucous cheer. Small, bare-footed children run through the streets, and one unwisely cuts between Katsuko and Genma, who simply laugh as if their instincts hadn't told them to mangle what brushed their legs.

 _This is why I don't get sent for reconnaissance missions_ , Haku thinks tartly to himself, _I'm too jumpy_.

Katsuko chooses the seediest of the four bars in the village center, while Genma and Kurenai opt for the more upscale option. Kakashi takes his post on the roof of the first establishment, while Haku takes the latter.

Haku hears a faint buzz, then the sounds of muddled, drunken laughter and clinking glasses fill his ears. Katsuko, Genma, and Kurenai must have turned up their throat mics. He stands stock-still at attention, waiting for the moment when action is needed.

"...other civilians pass through here?" Kurenai's voice comes tinny over the speakers.

"Not many," a gruff voice answers her. "Though, 'bout twice a year, I be seein' Konya Gaho-san blow through. Always runs back south with a buncha spending money'n good cheer. Says he's spreadin' his luck around, or whatever."

"You disagree with him," Kurenai says, but it's not accusatory. The name is familiar to Haku, but he can't quite place it.

"'Course I fuckin' do. Sh'ratsukawa was peaceful 'fore he started giving us his coin."

Haku's wrist hurts with the ramping tension. If there's going to be a fight, he wants it now. He tunes back in before he loses track of this conversation.

"...peaceful now?" Kurenai's lilting civilian-voice asks.

There's a sudden peal of coughing laughter. "Jus' you wait till the next guards come along. Iwa'll be crawling outta every crack in the wall."

Haku scans over the squat buildings in the small town and then looks across the street to where he knows Kakashi to be, hidden by genjutsu. Haku lifts his shadow veil enough to sign, _Know Konya?_ He has to spell out the family name in kana, right hand curling in a question before disappearing again.

One pebble on the opposite roof hits the exhaust pipe, then another. _Yes_.

That could mean anything from being aware the man exists to having a close personal relationship with him, but it isn't like Kakashi is much of a conversationalist.

The general consensus amongst the night owls in Shiratsukawa is that Konya Gaho is a shady man with unknown business practices, but ultimately not Kusa's problem, being a Fire Country resident. Katsuko finds the group a two-bed room at an inn and reiterates what Haku already pieced together, plus some new information. Kurenai places her sound-deadening genjutsu on the room.

"Konya-san is the daimyou in charge of the Fire Country land bordering Plains. He'd better have a good reason for so many vacations through here, or Konoha will have something better for him to be doing with his time." Katsuko crosses her arms over her chest and turns a direly serious look on the rest of her team, and each one, even Haku, can infer what that means.

"Your orders, taichou?" Kurenai asks.

"Stay on track with our main objective. If we get the opportunity to gain intel, Shiranui-fukuchou and Yuuhi will pursue it while the rest of us continue with the drop-off."

Katsuko is met with answering salutes from her team, then she smiles. "Bedtime, kiddos. We want to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for our lovely Kusa friends."

Kakashi tilts his head, analyzing her. "Did you bring your purple bra with the yawning chipmunks on it?"

"Of course! It wouldn't be a mission without it."

Haku briefly considers the absurdity that his life has become before grabbing his toothbrush and translocating into the small bathroom their room shares with the one next door.

* * *

Team Nine strikes out before sunrise the next morning. Clad in black and bone, they leap across the roofs of Shiratsukawa and over the northern gate of the town. The Konoha-nin, used to forgoing paths for the cover of trees, grudgingly stay on the dirt road, sparing small seedlings of chakra to blend into the pre-dawn darkness.

Katsuko stops abruptly as they crest a small hill, flaring her ANBU spark. Haku glances around, seeing a field of wildflowers spotting the usual tall grasses that Plains Country is known for, and the rendezvous point with the Kusa-nin. He ponders that this could be the weirdest and most transient landmark that he's ever had.

The sound of a hawk call breaks the air and Katsuko mimics it, the ANBU dropping their henges and genjutsus. A spring breeze brushes past and three Kusa-nin appear in front of them, backlit by the moon.

"We have the supplies you requested, Kusa-san," Katsuko says, unhooking the scrolls from her belt as her team does the same.

"Leaf ANBU-san," the Grass captain and her subordinates salute Team Nine: captain with practiced blandness and dark circles under her pale blue eyes, subordinates shaky and bright-eyed.

The ten scrolls are handed over, and the captain produces one of her own. "Anxiety medicine - our own formula. It isn't much, but we didn't realize Konoha's elite would be making the delivery."

Katsuko nods and tosses the gifted scroll back to Genma, who says, "Thank you, Kusa-taichou. May Bishamon guide your path to the Pure Land."

The snakelike young man standing to the captain's left scoffs and glances at his muscled comrade. "A religious babykiller. Isn't that funny, Jisoji?"

"Hilarious," the other man deadpans, and continues despite the exasperated glare from his captain. "Though that begs the question: why send ANBU for simple commerce? Does Konoha not trust us?"

Haku stands up straighter, and the air grows thick with killing intent from the Kusa-nin, who have doubled in number, and from his own team. Three years ago, he would've suffocated under it. Now, he stares down the insolent speaker, categorizing potential weak points, and pours acrid sugar into his voice. "You all understand that Hokage-sama values our treaty. Unfortunate that he had to send such elite forces to deliver your supplies, as it would seem your borders are weakly guarded."

Jisoji unsheathes his kusarigama at that implication, but the captain holds a stalling hand, and says, "What makes you say that we are not in control of our Land?"

Katsuko thumbs the handle of her katana. "Oh, you didn't hear? A lot of Fire Country tourists are being stalled at the border by ninja. They're not ours, because we've always allowed free passage between our allied countries."

The captain blinks slowly. "I hope you aren't insinuating, ANBU-san, that Kusa has been interfering with your citizens?"

"Pick your poison," Genma says, as Katsuko's dependable right hand man. "Either Kusa is, or Iwa is."

At the mention of their common enemy, the six Kusa-nin all share a wary look. Their captain speaks in a measured tone. "Do you anticipate another war?"

Genma shrugs, keeping things deliberately vague. "Perhaps. Konoha will doubtless inform Kusa once we've had the opportunity to gather proper intel. What I do know, however, is that it would be unwise for you to tangle with us. If the treaty is severed, Yondaime-sama's revenge will be swift and ruthless."

The Kusa-nin unbend, one by one, and their captain gives the ANBU a final salute before they disappear into the wind.

Katsuko huffs out a breath, then about-faces to address her team. "Let's bounce, before they change their minds. We should all leave clones watching Shiratsukawa in case our darling Konya-san decides to show himself. And no stopovers, we're busting this shit right up to Yondaime-sama's desk." She pauses as nine kage bunshin poof into existence, five of them hers. "Except to make camp. Or if someone has to piss. Anyway."

She takes a few running steps before flickering out of sight, Team Nine hot on her heels.

* * *

Haku pretends not to be disappointed when he returns to Konoha and Nadeshiko's team still isn't back from their mission. There's paperwork to fill out, after all.


	14. When a Flame Goes Out

It's late Thursday night, five days after getting home from his first ANBU mission, and Haku is in his pajamas and a pleasant mood, walking back to his room after brushing his teeth, when he finally runs into Bachyou in the rookie barracks. Bachyou is gently closing the door to Shizue's room and he's distracted enough not to notice Haku's approach.

"Koeshi?" Haku asks softly. "Are you alright?"

Bachyou turns tearstained eyes on Haku. "I think my team is cursed."

"I'm sorry?"

"Fuck. That's not. Nadeshiko's dead." Bachyou chokes on his next breath, shaking his head.

Haku's heart stops, but all he says is "Oh."

"I saw it happen, Haku. She gave us the opportunity we needed." Bachyou's voice cracks and he starts to cry.

Haku, still too stunned to register her death, continues speaking like he's calming a spooked animal. "We should go back to your room. You'll feel better if you rest."

Bachyou nods shakily and lets himself be led to his room, which he unlocks and disarms without a second thought before collapsing onto his bed. Haku steps inside and lets the door swing shut behind him, feeling cold down to his bones. Already, the room is full of posters, books, CDs, bean bags, a TV, and other various knick knacks, as if Bachyou brought his whole previous apartment with him.

"Funeral's t'morrow at 1400," Bachyou says into his pillow. "Don't wanna go, but I won't disrespect her like that."

"I'll be there, also," Haku says, voice more solid than he feels. He sits down on the corner of Bachyou's bed, right hand splayed open in his lap, left stump resting on his knee. He can't do anything about an old friend being gone, but he can make his new one feel better.

Haku migrates around to the top of the bed and gently places his hand over Bachyou's. "Will you be okay?"

Bachyou startles, then turns his head to look at Haku, mashing his hair on one side. "Yeah. Maybe I'll go out tonight. Try'n feel a little more alive, y'know?"

"I can help. If you need...someone. If you need to be with someone, I could do that for you."

"You don't need to do that. We only just started being friends, I don't wanna fuck it up." Bachyou's eyebrows raise the barest millimeter before he mashes his face into the pillow again.

"You and Maako, though, aren't you...?"

"She 'n' I have a prior agreement. Neither one of us is gonna go catchin' feelings. She actually didn't even let me stay the night, this time, not that I blame her."

Haku finds himself wanting to be told what to do. Zabuza always had the right answer and could pull Haku away from whatever was icing his veins. Still, he can't just leave Bachyou here. "Please, just... Let me do something for you."

"If you really wanna help, you could get me a glass of water and some ibuprofen."

"Yes, sir," Haku says automatically, then winces and retreats to the sink. It takes him some time to find a cup, but he's pleased to find that the kitchen isn't dirty, just cluttered. When Haku returns to the bedside, Bachyou barely lifts himself up enough to swallow the offered pills and drain the cup, then he falls back onto the pillow.

"Thanks, Haku." Bachyou yawns.

"If there's nothing else you need, I'll be on my way." Haku tries not to let the worry enter his voice. Caring for Bachyou is keeping Haku from thinking about the inevitable.

"No-" Bachyou says, sitting up in bed. He clears his throat. "I mean, y'can leave if you want, I won't stop you."

"Do you want me to stay?"

"That'd be nice," Bachyou says slowly, as if he's not sure he should admit it. He slides towards the wall, freeing up some bed space.

"Are you sure? I could sleep on the floor-"

"And give yourself a crick in your neck?" Bachyou smiles weakly and pats the bed. "Just sleep in the damn bed, Haku."

Haku gives Bachyou a searching look as he crawls under the covers. The two of them are as far apart as possible, and while Bachyou falls asleep quickly due to exhaustion, Haku lies awake for another half an hour, imagining a world without his best friend in it.

* * *

Haku is on the bridge in Wave Country again, and Zabuza is in danger. All he knows is that he has to save him, so he moves faster than he ever has before and blocks the killing blow.

There's a hand stuck in Haku's chest. He says, "Oh," but it comes out as blood flowing down his chin.

Haku sits up, wide-eyed and breathing heavy, skin slick with cold sweat. He presses his right hand to his chest and finds it whole. Bachyou's arms are wrapped around his waist and he snores gently with sleep. Beams of sunlight cascade around the blinds and leave slats on the floor.

Haku looks at the clock on Bachyou's nightstand. It's 0635. He carefully slides out of Bachyou's grasp and leaves the room as quietly as possible, returning to his own to dress in an old set of jounin blues for training.

On the training field, Haku spars with Kakashi, pushing himself harder to make up for Nadeshiko's death. If Kakashi recognizes what Haku is doing, he doesn't comment on it.

Kurenai, however, does. "You seem enthusiastic this morning, Yuki."

Haku switches his tanto to his prosthetic grip and flicks through seals with his right hand while he blocks and parries. "I suppose."

"Sparring is one way to distract yourself, and one Kakashi knows well."

"A distraction is the last thing I need right now," Haku says, and then releases the formed chakra in his palm. A sheet of ice floats a meter high behind him, and he backflips into it.

The first mirror shatters, and one forms behind Kakashi, which forces him to turn around and jump back, over a second mirror forming on the ground. Haku reaches for Kakashi's ankle as he leaps out of the mirror, but Kakashi flips out of the way and grabs his wrist, the two of them tumbling to the ground. When the dust settles, Kakashi is straddling Haku and their swords are pressed flat against each other's throats. It's a few panting breaths before they decide on a mutual truce and Kakashi steps off to let Haku scramble back upright.

"That was sloppy," Kakashi says, and Haku makes a low sound of agreement.

Kurenai gives them both an unreadable look, then addresses Haku again. "If you aren't sleeping well, I can teach you a genjutsu technique that will let your body rest while your mind is occupied."

Haku takes a moment to consider it before responding. "I would like that, thank you, Yuuhi-senpai."

Katsuko jumps down from the tree she was sitting in, Genma just a fraction behind her, and nods at Kurenai. "We can do genjutsu exercises for the rest of training. That way it'll look like we didn't spend the last few hours trying to kill each other when we show up to the funeral, not that it really matters."

Haku toes at some loose dirt at the mention of the afternoon's upcoming event. It wouldn't matter to Nadeshiko if they showed up bruised and bloody. In fact, she'd probably appreciate it.

"Snowpuff?" Katsuko says, concerned.

Haku doesn't respond. He watches a butterfly flit between the ninja.

"Ah," Genma says, "You knew Uchiha Nadeshiko."

Haku just nods, holding out slender fingers for the butterfly to land on.

"Namiashi-taichou spoke well of her, the last time we met. He said she reminded him of a certain someone." Genma glances over at Katsuko, who stiffens nearly imperceptibly, and Haku can only guess at what she's thinking.

"I would've liked to meet her," she says softly, then looks up at the sun, lips slightly downturned. "Alright, enough chitchat, let's get some work done."

* * *

Haku arrives to the funeral early, wearing his dress blacks. Their newness contrasts strangely with the sun-bleached green of his jounin vest. He scans the crowd for a familiar face and sees Sasuke standing amongst his family, so Haku flits over to join him. An Uchiha woman in a jounin vest with Nadeshiko's sharp cheekbones wrangles three young children, her chuunin husband standing beside her. Somehow, it had never occurred to Haku that Nadeshiko might have siblings, or more immediate family than her clan. She rarely spoke of her home life, and Haku didn't pressure her to.

On the other side of the courtyard, Haku spots Team Fourteen. Their broad captain has dark circles under his eyes, as does the rest of his team. Bachyou holds himself tighter than parade rest would call for, tension lining every muscle. Both Shizue's and the lieutenant's eyes are red-rimmed, and Shizue's lip trembles.

Haku turns his head back towards his friend. Sasuke is as old now as Haku was when he came to Konoha, face starting to lose a little bit of its softness. His expression is blank, but he nods at Haku in greeting.

"Thank you for coming," Sasuke says, voice so low Haku can barely hear it above the gentle hum of the crowd. "I...never saw her after she joined ANBU. She wasn't on good terms with the clan."

Haku is about to respond, but Naruto bounds up beside Sasuke, followed closely by Sakura and Ryouma. The three of them didn't know Nadeshiko closely, but Haku knows it could just as easily be any of the attending shinobi under the red and orange shroud.

Sakura looks up at the sunny sky, then closes her eyes. "Rin-sensei and I performed the autopsy." She turns back towards Haku. "I'm sorry."

Naruto is quiet for once, but he won't stop fidgeting. Haku considers telling him to cut it out.

Ryouma places a hand on Haku's shoulder, and when Haku looks up at him in surprise, he smiles weakly.

Everyone here has lost someone, before.

Minato walks out onto the podium, his white flame-licked cloak billowing behind him, and the crowd falls silent.

The first part of the Hokage's speech is similar to what he says at every funeral, sorrow and condolences, thankfulness for dedicated service, and an assertion that shinobi are what makes Konoha strong. He pauses, searching the crowd, and Haku knows that he's making sure the Uchiha clan bothered to attend.

"Uchiha Nadeshiko was a firebrand, and an extremely strong kunoichi in her own right, not just on-duty either. She often went out of her way to care for her kohai, and was instrumental in integrating shinobi into their new assignments with a mischievous smile and a verbal dressing-down. She will be missed, and her killers will face justice."

Haku, as a member of the team that gathered the initial intel, has a feeling he knows who Minato is speaking about. He fiercely hopes Team Nine gets that mission summons.

At the Hokage's signal, the shroud containing Nadeshiko's body is pushed into the funeral pyre, and the flames roar higher for a brief moment before dying down. The shinobi in the crowd stand tall and salute the fire, their country's namesake.

Though the fire will continue to burn for a few hours, the ceremony is over. Haku turns to talk to Sasuke, only to see him conferencing with his family. He mingles for a little longer, unsure of what to do with himself, before he finally decides to just go back to his room.

He takes a long, slow walk back up to the barracks, opting to take the stairs instead of running straight up Hokage Mountain. When he passes by the training fields, Bachyou is thrashing himself around on the grass, bare chested but still in his dress blacks.

It's a vicious fight between him and his clone. They switch seamlessly between ninjutsu and taijutsu, the clone berating Bachyou for not getting to her in time, for being weak, for letting his emotions show on the mission.

Haku stands by for a little bit, just watching, and then he sees the clone make a small mistake, feinting left instead of right. It gets struck with lightning and chars black before it pops. Haku shudders, then picks his way across the field to Bachyou, who is sweat-slicked, dirt-stained, and seething.

Haku flares his chakra, and Bachyou looks at him for a wild-eyed moment before seeming to settle back into himself.

"I was just training. Honing my edges, y'know?" Bachyou says, crossing his arms over his bare chest. His lip is split and he has abrasions covering his bare skin.

"I understand, but beating yourself up over past mistakes won't help. Believe me, I've tried," Haku says with an sardonic smile, unzipping his jounin vest and shrugging it off. "You know all of your tells. If you want, I could be your sparring partner."

Bachyou looks surprised at the offer. For a ninja, he really is an open book, but Haku supposes the surprise is warranted, considering he hasn't been trying all that hard to get close to him.

After a beat, Bachyou says, "I'd like that," and drops into a ready stance. Haku mimics him.

Bachyou warms up with a few quick jabs, aiming to break Haku's guard, but Haku sidesteps with ease, noting Bachyou's focus on his weaker left side. Bachyou continues pressing Haku on the left. Haku continues to judiciously evade, ready to pull senbon as soon as Bachyou gets frustrated and tries to step in closer. So when he closes in on Haku's right and takes a feinting swipe, Haku flings a handful of needles - into the ground, not at Bachyou. He's attempting to control his opponent's movements and change the fight to be on his terms, not actually hurt his friend.

Bachyou rolls out of the way, flashing quick seals in an Earth jutsu that swallows him up. Haku sighs in mock annoyance and stamps the ground. Moisture in the dirt freezes and crystallizes, cracking the earth open again - and there, a flash of dark skin and blue fabric. Haku leaps to grab Bachyou before he can dig himself in further.

Bachyou tucks his long legs and head in, using the momentum of the grab to flip over Haku. Haku, startled to suddenly find himself in the air, recalculates, lets himself be flipped, and then swings his legs around to kick Bachyou in the back of the head. It's a dirty move, but contrary to popular belief, Haku is not actually all that nice.

Bachyou ducks, managing to take a glancing blow instead of a solid hit. He grabs Haku's ankle and threads electric chakra through.

A yell rips itself out of Haku's throat as his muscles shake with brief but painful convulsions. He shoves back with his own chakra, pushing Bachyou's jutsu out of his pathways, and as the convulsions subside he picks up his other foot, interrupting his connection with the ground. He kicks Bachyou in the head again, for good measure, and stands on his shoulders. If his opponent were an enemy-nin, he'd probably reach down to scratch out their eyes.

Bachyou snarls in pain, spins them around, and tackles Haku onto the ground, taking advantage of his greater height and weight.

Haku's already in the right positioning for it: he wraps his knees around Bachyou's neck and squeezes.

This particular chokehold is the precursor to suffocating Bachyou, and it seems like he does not particularly want to test Haku's reserve on that one. "Y'wanna settle this?"

"Are you tapping out?" Haku can't help the note of smugness that creeps into his voice. His taijutsu has gotten _so_ much better.

"I'm saying that 'f we weren't allies, we'd both have done each other in a couple times already."

Haku could hold the blood choke until Bachyou gets lightheaded, but instead, he lets go and stands up very slowly. Koeshi certainly seems like the type to pretend defeat long enough to get another hit in.

As soon as Haku's legs aren't wrapped around his neck, Bachyou grabs whatever skin he can and shocks him hard enough to startle him, then climbs astride in the approved taijutsu position.

 _Well, at least my character assessment was right_ , Haku thinks as his muscles lock for the second time. He hits the ground hard. Fortunately, the pain and annoyance is enough to distract him from Bachyou sitting on his hips. "You fight very dirty, Koeshi."

He shrugs. "Makes it easy to kill enemy-nin. Why fight clean if the other guy isn't gonna?"

Haku refuses the temptation to be petulant about the painful shocks. Bachyou neglected to pin his hands. He slides senbon between his fingers and sits up quickly, pressing the points lightly against Bachyou's throat. "Indeed."

He grins, nonplussed. "Not bad, Haku."

Haku gives him an unamused look. "Now get off of me."

Bachyou stands up, offering a hand to Haku like a good sport.

Haku doesn't take it, being as Bachyou fights dirty, but he bows a little when he stands up. "Thank you for the fight, Koeshi-san."

Bachyou's eyebrows shoot up and he bows back belatedly. "Uh, no problem, man. Thank you for gettin' me out of my head." He looks down at their dirty dress blacks, then says, "These stains are gonna be a bitch to get out."

Haku winces and picks up his jounin vest. "We may just have to purchase new ones."

"My old folks are tailors, an' they do dry cleaning, too," Bachyou says cheerfully, picking up his own gear but not putting it on. He starts to walk back towards the rookie barracks.

"I'm sure they'd appreciate the business," Haku observes, falling into step with him.

Bachyou's steps falter briefly. "Actually, they might not."

"Koeshi?"

"It's nothing." He shakes his head, then abruptly changes the subject. "I don't recognize the hand seals you use. That some Mist thing?"

"Oh." Haku's brain takes some time to catch up. He hunches his shoulders. "No, I was never properly educated. When I was developing my Hyouton, I just made shapes that felt cold. I doubt they could be translated. Getting my Flashing Crystal Mirrors registered with the Jutsu Records Office was...tedious, to say the least."

"When are they not?" Bachyou says wryly as he pushes the door to the barracks open and Haku laments the fact that he has to take another shower. They approach Bachyou's room, which is right next to the shared bathroom.

"True, although I don't blame them for wanting to know more about my jutsu. If the Uchiha really can't copy kekkei genkai, maybe I'll have Nade-" Haku's brain comes to a screeching halt, and Bachyou makes a pained sound.

"Maybe I'll have Sasuke take a look," Haku says, voice wavering. He presses his lips together and looks up at the ceiling, tears welling in his eyes, then he shakes his head and abandons Bachyou to the hallway outside his door to translocate across the hall to his own room for his shower kit.

When Haku arrives in the bathroom, Bachyou is nowhere to be seen, but a few of the showers are running. He doesn't let himself take advantage of the endless hot water like he normally does, hoping to be finished before his comrade ( _friend?_ ) is. All of his sore muscles make it very clear how they feel about that, which is a good reminder to always stretch before sparring.

He gets dressed in the shower stall, noting with disdain that the hem of his shorts is damp from touching the wet floor as he put them on. Most ninja are careless about changing in front of others, but Haku never appreciated the idea of having too many eyes on him as he struggles to do zippers and buttons with only one hand.

Haku wraps his towel around his head, gathers his dirty clothes and shower kit, and opens the stall door to see Bachyou, back turned towards Haku, dropping his towel to pull on black briefs. In the shock of the moment, Haku drops his things and lets out a small squeak, causing Bachyou to about-face, already poised to block an attack.

"Oh," Bachyou says, straightening back up. Haku covers his eyes before he can see anything and bends down to gather his things.

Left arm still clamped firmly over his eyes, Haku says, "I apologize for startling you, Koeshi."

A rustle of clothes, then, "S'okay. I'm dressed now. I just...wanted to make sure you were okay."

Haku lowers his arm to see Bachyou wearing a black tank top with "Find Muck" silk-screened onto it in obnoxious pink, and neon green basketball shorts. "That's a look."

"It's a real hit at Flashdark. They've got all those UV lights and shit." Bachyou shrugs. "Didn't get the chance to do laundry, yet."

"Ah, well, if you don't mind, I have to go feed my fish," Haku lies, scooting outside into the hallway. Of course, everyone who knows about Ryuuki-kun knows Haku feeds him in the mornings, before training.

"Wait," Bachyou says, and Haku stops, but doesn't turn around. "Are...are you gonna be okay?"

Haku sighs. "You can come feed my fish, if you want."

Bachyou drops his shower kit off in his room, then follows Haku down the hall. When Haku enters his room, he places his shower kit down on the dresser and collapses on one of the cushions around his low table. Ryuuki-kun pokes his head out of the seaweed as if to greet him, and Haku waggles his fingers.

"That's your fish? He's real pretty," Bachyou says, sitting down on the cushion opposite Haku.

Haku smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Ryuuki-kun was my birthday present to myself. He gives good advice."

Bachyou snorts. "Hey, Ryuuki-kun, is Haku gonna keep dodging my questions?"

"No," Haku says, rolling his eyes. "Look, Koeshi, I'll be alright, though I appreciate your concern. This...isn't the first time I've lost someone."

"Me either," Bachyou admits, and Haku gives him a curious yet understanding look, so he sighs. "My genin team and I had been chuunin for a few years. We were a good team, y'know? Shizue and Ome-kun and I, we took a bad mission to Kusa, thought we could handle it. Omeki, well, he ended up with some Iwa kunoichi's sword through his back."

Haku shudders, imagining it. "You and Maako made it, though."

"Yes. I took the risk and zapped that bitch with the prototype of my Electric Tunneling jutsu. It got me field promoted to toku-jou, but..." Bachyou shakes his head, huffing with derision at himself. "That didn't do anything for Omeki. Thought I could be faster, this time."

"I was fast enough and it still didn't help." Haku frowns and rubs the stump of his left wrist. "And...if Nadeshiko's Sharingan couldn't predict the attack, there's no way you could have gotten there in time."

"I know. I _know_ , but fuck, Haku." Bachyou lays his head on the table and mumbles, "She owed Morei a date."

"Ah. She did mention something like that to me before you left on your mission."

They sit in silence for a while, then Bachyou says, "I guess now we have to train harder."

"Of course," Haku says with certainty. "Are you working on anything specific?"

Bachyou perks up considerably. "Yeah, I wanna master a third affinity. You could come find me after training tomorrow, but it won't be that interesting. I'll just be casting simple manifestation jutsu and meditating, but we've all gotta start with the basics."

"You're Lightning and Earth, right? I could help with your Wind and Water techniques."

"That'd be great, Haku. Hell, maybe we'll end up sharing a nature. And if you want, you could use me for senbon target practice." Bachyou smiles, sitting up straight now.

Haku's chest warms with the joy of being wanted and useful to somebody, and the corners of his mouth tug. "You didn't strike me as a masochist, Koeshi."

"Everyone in ANBU is either a sadist or a masochist," Bachyou says nonchalantly, and Haku snorts. "And I don't like seein' others in pain...Unless they deserve it."

"Me either," Haku affirms quietly.

After a minute or two, Haku says, "She hated coffee and she loved tea. She liked to gossip. She would tease me for my low chakra endurance. She was proud of her clan. Once, she let me try on one of her dresses because she didn't like it, and she told me I looked sweet." He looks down, tugging at a thread on the hem of his shorts. "She...she was in love with a girl on her genin team, but the girl didn't love her back. She could whistle really well. She liked cats."

Haku, he's found, collects these kinds of facts. He doesn't mean to, but he does. Even with Zabuza three years in the ground he remembers the shape of his favorite knife, how he liked to travel in the rain, the rare, precious sound of his laugh. He remembers the calluses on his father's hands. The smell of his mother's hair. Even after he'd forgotten their faces.

Would Uchiha Nadeshiko end up the same way?

"I know I have to get used to it," says Haku bleakly. "I know she won't be the only comrade I lose. But...there's...there's already so much death in my heart."

Bachyou rests his hand palm up on the table. A moment later, Haku places his hand in the other man's. He expects Bachyou to say something, but they sit in companionable silence until Haku remembers how to pull himself away from the vast ocean of grief.


	15. Déjà Vu

It's the Monday after the funeral and, like clockwork, Team Nine receives another mission summons. Haku really shouldn't be surprised, because none of his team was injured in their travels to Kusa, but even Bachyou's team is being sent out again. They'd ran into each other in the hallways of HQ on various supply-gathering quests, with only enough time to exchange a few words in passing.

"Mission?" Bachyou says, tilting his head.

"Yep," Haku replies, unsure what further information he can give. They both have S-rank clearance, and this next mission is only an A-rank, to Haku's silent chagrin, so it's probably okay to tell him some of the broad strokes. "A chuunin squad died in Wave."

"Ah. Weapons dealer in Suna is getting cocky." Bachyou repositions the stack of papers in his arms and turns to leave.

Haku hesitates, then grabs Bachyou's arm. "Would it be untoward for me to request a souvenir?"

A slow smile spreads across Bachyou's face, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Guess I can't die heroically if I need to deliver a token of our friendship, huh? Tell you what, I'll bring you some dried cactus fruit if you bring me sea glass." He shifts the papers to his left arm, holding his right hand out. "Deal?"

"Deal," Haku says, giving him a firm handshake.

* * *

It takes Team Nine a day and a half to run south to Fire Country's border. They want to hurry before whatever killed the other shinobi strikes again, but they don't want to be completely spent when they arrive.

Katsuko slows up as they enter the small village on the shore, and her team copies her. They stay concealed in the trees to discuss strategy.

"We should keep our blacks on," she says. "Any shinobi dumb enough to stick around after killing Konoha-nin would be intimidated by us, and the villagers will know we're taking this seriously."

She glances around at her team before dropping out of the trees and striding into the village. Haku and the rest of the team follow her closely in the light of the morning sun.

Haku squints up at the sky, the sun not quite at its peak yet, and sets his internal clock to 1000. There are fewer villagers out and about than he would expect at this time of day. Perhaps the shinobi that killed the chuunin had spooked the civilians, too.

A black-haired woman is pinning her clean laundry to the clothesline outside of her house. The ninja allow their feet to crunch the grass deliberately, so as not to startle her.

She startles anyway, once she sees their masks, but she offers them a hasty, deep bow. "Leaf ANBU-san. I suppose you're all here about your missing chuunin?"

"Yes, ma'am," Katsuko says. "Would you mind telling us what you know?"

The woman pins the last article of clothing to the line and props the wicker basket up on her hip. "Of course. You're welcome to come inside and have a cup of tea. I know how far Konoha is from here." She turns around, hesitates, then looks over her shoulder. "How should I refer to you all?"

Clearly, she has no qualms about ninja at her back.

Katsuko points to each member of the team. "Crane, Leopard, Hound, and Lieutenant Tanuki," then herself. "Rat-taichou. And you, ma'am?"

"Tsunami is fine," she says, leading them inside. The house is small, with a quaint kitchen that definitely wasn't designed to fit four full-grown shinobi and one nearly-grown one. Team Nine stands awkwardly along the walls as Tsunami prepares a fresh pot of green tea.

"What can you tell us about the attack?" Genma asks, keenly watching their host.

Tsunami shrugs. "I wasn't a witness, but it happened on the bridge. There are rumors that it was some sort of beast in the water, but terror can make people see all sorts of things."

The one and only water beast Haku knows of is Kisame, who is currently a missing-nin. It would be stupid of him to be revealing his location by killing Konoha shinobi and terrorizing civilians, unless that was the point. He takes the tea Tsunami hands him and waits for the familiar press of Kurenai's chakra before lifting his mask and taking a sip. It's good tea - a hint of jasmine and earthen undertones.

"What do you think it was, then?" Genma presses.

"Probably another shinobi, Lieutenant Tanuki, sir. There haven't been any attacks since that one a week ago. You may be walking into a trap."

"We've considered that possibility, ma'am," Katsuko says gravely. "I'd like to know if the traffic on the bridge has changed while we were traveling."

"Much less people are crossing during the day, now, and the gates are put up at night. Though," Tsunami pauses, "Whoever killed your chuunin doesn't seem to be interested in civilians."

"Speaking of our chuunin - are there any remains? Dog tags, even?"

Tsunami shakes her head. "No. I'm sorry, Rat-taichou. I wish I could give you some good news."

Katsuko gives her a shallow bow. "Thank you, Tsunami. We'll get out of your hair, now." Then, Katsuko leads Team Nine back out into the daylight.

"We should wait until the bridge is closed to investigate - minimize civilian casualties if our enemy-nin decides to attack." After simultaneous salutes, they all leap back up into the trees to wait.

* * *

Team Nine perches above the small village, watching like vultures as the sun dips below the horizon. A graying man steps out of the toll booth on the bridge, seemingly at some signal, and closes and locks the gate.

Not a problem for even a genin, let alone ANBU. Team Nine leaps over the gate and lands on the bridge, which is about ten kilometers long. The hope is that any potential conflict happens in the middle of the bridge, but ANBU missions are not known for granting wishes.

Something about this bridge seems familiar to Haku. He looks around, suspicious, and spies a dedication plate on one of the railings.

 _Shinobi Memorial Bridge  
_ _On the 20th of August, Y-12, a genin team from Konoha clashed with a Bingo Book missing-nin. Their squad leader was able to triumph, ending the missing-nin's career and allowing the completion of this bridge, which has brought our village prosperity._

Haku's breath suddenly burns in his throat and his left wrist aches with tension. He stares blankly ahead as they cross the bridge - the one where he failed and Zabuza died. It's never appropriate to be having emotions on a mission, but especially not now. He snaps his chakra shut like a trap and maintains his position in the middle of the pack as they cross the bridge at a moderate pace. A salty breeze caresses Haku's bare skin. He shivers.

If Haku hadn't been trying so hard not to look for Zabuza's ghost, he might have noticed the churning water.

A huge tentacle shoots up over the side of the bridge and grabs Katsuko, lifting her high into the air. Haku barely has time to process what's going on before he springs into action, hand flying through seals. He would slice the tentacle in half, but his tanto isn't long enough to cut through something as thick as a tree trunk.

Kakashi, however, has different ideas. He blurs in front of Haku, blade glowing white-hot, and shears the flailing arm in half. For a nerve stricken heartbeat, Katsuko is falling, but the open wound simmers like boiling water. Two new tentacles grow in its place, one snatching Katsuko out of the air again and the other nearly crushing Haku before he stabs an ice spear through it.

Katsuko finally pierces her katana through the tentacle, which writhes and drops her back onto the bridge. Genma rushes over and she struggles to her feet, gripping her side.

"I think this's our missing-nin," she says, gasping for breath. Haku wonders how she has time to be humorous, wringing his hand and wishing he could help.

The sound of thousands of gallons of water being displaced makes Haku look back towards the water. Team Nine watches, transfixed, as what appears to be a giant squid crests the waves.

"Fuck," Katsuko says emphatically.

The squid makes an attempt towards Kakashi, who bobs and weaves quickly. Haku sees the red glint of his single Sharingan eye.

"Taichou," Kurenai whispers sternly, "I think it's chakra sensing." She takes a deep breath and casts a genjutsu. Haku feels her chakra pressing down on him, suppressing his own. He can only feel his teammates' ANBU sparks.

The squid misses Kakashi once again, then flails its tentacle around on the deck blindly. It screams, a horrible sound unlike any animal Haku has ever heard, and that is the only warning Team Nine gets. They leap down to chakra-walk on the unsteady water, moving further away while a section of the bridge is torn apart by the squid in its search for them.

"Crane," Katsuko says, her voice sounding strained above the din of wreckage. "Can we have some ice platforms?"

"Won't it sense my jutsu?" Haku replies, hand poised to start a seal sequence.

"Leopard is suppressing our chakra. There's only one way to find out."

"Yes, taichou." Haku brushes his left shoulder with his fingers almost as an afterthought, then freezes the water's surface in a five meter radius out from himself. Team Nine holds steady on the new footing, although Haku purposely leaves its surface rough to assure strong traction. Born and bred Leaf-nin are probably not used to fighting on ice. Haku sees Kakashi's head tip back as he swallows a soldier pill and considers asking for one, but decides against it.

The squid's giant eyes swing towards Team Nine, and Haku can feel the weight of its stare. Katsuko grates out more orders. "Tanuki, tape my ribs. Leopard, do whatever you can to blind that thing. Hound and Crane, scout out its weak point."

Katsuko's subordinates salute her, then split off. Haku and Kakashi chakra-run across the water's surface, quickly approaching the beast. Haku only has a split second to acknowledge the squid's open beak before Kakashi slams into him, knocking them both into the water. While Haku can best Kakashi in an all out sprint with a clear end goal, Kakashi still has the advantage of his Sharingan eye, seemingly able to predict the future.

The temperature in the water increases rapidly as Haku arrows towards the surface. He doesn't have time to ask questions, he just tears through the seals for his Flashing Crystal Mirrors. He bounces between sheets of ice towards the rear of the squid, this time opting for a more serpentine path, hoping that whatever it spewed at them can't reach him.

Haku looks up at the grotesque, bulbous mantle of the squid and leaps up onto it. Surprisingly, it's hard with calcified armor. Kakashi joins him, and they dodge the tentacles trying to grab them.

"Raikiri?" Haku suggests as he shoves ice through a grasping limb.

Kakashi shakes his head. "Water conducts electricity - I'd risk electrocuting the rest of you." The air begins to smell of burning seafood and rusted iron.

Kakashi seems to be favoring his right side, but slightly, something only a teammate would notice.

"You're hurt," Haku says, and in his distraction manages to be snatched by a tentacle.

The world pitches before he manages to force more ice through it, and then he's falling. Instinct takes over, and he performs a self-taught technique from his days with Zabuza, when his mentor would hurl him into the sea and he had only a few seconds to react. Crude hand seals shape chakra in the form of an ice cone around Haku's hand. He tucks his head in and punches down, slicing cleanly through the water's choppy surface. He quickly rights himself and kicks back up, taking a necessary breath of air and casting the air bubble jutsu before sinking back down.

Haku cracks open a light stick and swims towards the submerged portion of the squid, hoping to find a weak point and staying carefully out of range of the tentacles. He suspects he has about fifteen minutes before he has to refill his air bubble. As Haku closes in, he sees the juncture where the mantle meets the body. From what he remembers about cleaning squid, they don't have brains, and the heart is deep within the mantle. He'd make his move now, but his orders were simply to scout.

Upon returning to the surface at the ice platform, gasping, he finds Kakashi still in combat with the tentacles, keeping the squid distracted. Kurenai sits seiza on the ice platform, maintaining the chakra-blinding genjutsu. It probably takes a fair amount more concentration to fool something without a brain, especially with surrounding ninja releasing chakra left and right. Genma takes off towards one end of the crumbling bridge, and Katsuko, ribs taped and armor redonned, sprints out to assist Kakashi with her sibling swords drawn.

Haku clicks on his throat mic, hoping it isn't waterlogged. "Taichou - I found a chink in its armor. Underneath the water."

"Good work, snowpuff," comes her staticky response. "Hound and I'll keep it distracted for you. Flare your spark if there's a problem."

"Understood." Haku clicks off his mic, casts himself a bubble again (edging on twenty percent, now), then dives under. The small praise warms his heart more than it should, and before he knows it, he's floating right underneath the giant squid.

Senbon aren't going to do the trick, here. He thinks back to one of his earliest uses of his Hyouton, the spike driven through his father's heart and the wreckage of his childhood home, then takes a deep breath, and recalls the shape his hands made when all he wanted was to survive. Surrounded by water, he crafts a large spear, quickly growing to a meter thick by ten long, and plunges it through at an angle he hopes will reach the heart of the beast. It thrashes, in pain but clearly not dead, and Haku pours more of himself in, making the spear larger still. His breath comes labored, carbon dioxide starting to cloud his senses and chakra draining lower every second, but he nearly has it, he can't lose his grip now.

Haku twists his wrist, lodging the ice spear further in. The squid spasms, then stills.

Haku kicks back up to the surface, then sloshes over to the platform from before, chakra sputtering out of the soles of his feet and barely keeping him above water. For one of the only times in his life, he's shivering. He steps up onto the ice, bends over to catch his breath, and looks over his shoulder to check out his handiwork. The rest of Team Nine gathers around him.

"Are you alright, Crane?" Genma asks, arms half-outstretched.

"Yes," Haku says, more resolutely than he feels. He stands up straight, limbs shaking, and smiles behind his mask when he can hold his ground. "See? No need to worry about..." Haku's vision swims, and he's not sure who catches him.

* * *

Kakashi is not surprised in the least bit that Haku scraped his reserves dry killing the squid. He stands awkwardly off to the side while Genma lays the boy flat, taking off his mask and checking his vitals.

"Leopard," Genma says, unscrewing the prosthetic sword grip, "Can you transfer him? No more than twenty percent, I need to make sure he's not leaking."

"Of course, fukuchou," Kurenai replies smoothly. She places her fingertips to Haku's forehead and Kakashi can see her chakra unfurling and dipping into Haku's pathways. A tear rolls down Kakashi's cheek, a headache threatening behind his donated left eye. He closes it.

"Hound," Katsuko commands, "Come dissect this calamari with me." Ten of her clones pop into existence, wielding dual blades, all giving him a slightly judgmental look.

Kakashi salutes her and the twelve of them run out towards the huge squid. There's no way to take the entire specimen home, so Kakashi takes as much as he can carry, his nose complaining at him the entire time. One advantage to having a former teammate (and current boyfriend) who can rot things is that every other bad smell pales in comparison. He, Katsuko, and her clones leap up onto the bridge and seal their spoils into scrolls, away from the emergency taking place on the ice platform.

"Go find some springing branches," she instructs her clones, and when they depart, she turns towards Kakashi. "You're eleven years a veteran, and you've got that freaky mirror eye. How the hell did your entire left side get burned?"

"I had to save Crane from a jet of scalding water. Your ribs are broken, you don't get to nag me."

"That's where you're wrong, my darling subordinate. It's literally my job to nag you."

Kakashi refrains from rolling his eyes and jumps back down from the bridge. He and Katsuko make their way over to the ice platform, where the clones are constructing a stretcher and Genma is trying to get Haku to drink from a canteen. Haku is wrapped in a foil blanket, shivering and looking very miserable. A syringe clip hangs from his dog tags, marking one dose of morphine.

Haku finishes the canteen, gasping, and a new round of convulsions wracks his body before Genma can get another dose of morphine in him. Kakashi knows firsthand how awful chakra exhaustion is- and he's surprised to find Haku's dark eyes staring foggily up at him.

"S-sorry, senpai," he manages to stutter out. "'S m-m-my fault y'got burned."

"You killed it, right? Consider it a debt repaid."

Haku nods slowly, eyes drifting shut again.

"I'm going to put your mask back on, and we've got a stretcher ready for you, okay, Crane?" Genma says softly. There's a noncommittal grunt from Haku. Genma resettles the ceramic mask over his face, then the clones move Haku onto the makeshift stretcher, tucking the foil blanket more tightly beneath him.

"My Katsuclones have got it from here," Katsuko says.

Kakashi and the mostly conscious members of Team Nine let that pun die the ignoble death it deserves, but a sudden, quiet laugh comes from Haku's general direction.

"That's one way to keep morale up, taichou," Kurenai comments.

"Yes, well, if we could keep morale up while traveling north," Genma says, the telltale smirk in his voice belying his distaste, "That would be better for our rookie's prognosis."

"Noted. Hound, do you have any gentle geysers stored in your eye? It'd be easier than jumping up onto the bridge."

"What kind of Copy-nin would I be if I didn't?" Kakashi says, pretending to be offended as he quickly flips through an easy set of hand seals. A tall wave lifts up the ice platform and gently deposits Team Nine on the side of the bridge that leads back towards Tsunami's village.

They set out at a decent clip with the stretcher-toting clones in the middle of a diamond formation. Haku's small voice rises up again. "I w-wish I had good f-friends like all'f you..."

Kurenai leans over and shushes him gently. He'll recover more quickly if he falls asleep. Those comments would be alarming if Haku was sober, but as it is, they're just mildly concerning. Kakashi recalls that Uchiha Nadeshiko was close friends with Haku - did the rookie really have no other support network?

When Team Nine reaches the gate of the bridge, they jump down to the shore of the river and walk back into town. The moon is at its peak, reflecting off of their porcelain masks.

Katsuko holds up her hand for a halt. She points at one of her clones. "You, stay here and inform the town that the threat has been neutralized, but the bridge is out and a cleanup crew should be here within the week." It salutes her and leaves the stretcher to stand at the gate.

Kakashi can hear Haku's teeth chattering, and in the amount of time he's spent with him, Kakashi knows that Haku won't complain for fear of inconveniencing anyone, so he speaks up for him. "Taichou, can we get a space heater over here?"

Another clone takes the initiative and climbs into the stretcher with Haku, who shies away from it. "It's okay, Crane," Katsuko says. "My bunshin will keep you warm for the run home."

Within a few kilometers, Haku's breathing smooths with the gentle rhythm of sleep.

"He's a nice kid, when he's drugged," Kakashi says.

"Funny, I could say the same about another rookie I knew once..." Genma replies.

"You ought to tell that story again, fukuchou, and keep Hound humble, but hush. He needs the sleep." Kakashi can hear the smirk in Kurenai's voice.

Genma sighs almost inaudibly. "He's pretty drained, yeah. He'll be feeling this for weeks."

"Plenty of time to sit in the hospital and think about his bad choices." Kakashi frowns. "He watched me take a soldier pill, he knows he has issues with stamina, but he still didn't ask for one."

"Hound-" Genma starts.

Katsuko about-faces and jogs backwards for a little. "No, he's right. Crane made a very poor call that led to an easily preventable injury. I know we all wanna be soft on the poor thing, but, captain voice, I really can't tolerate that kind of behavior. He doesn't need to be babied, and he doesn't want to be. I've gotta talk to him after he's ambulatory again."

She slows up, surprising Kakashi, then brushes some of Haku's hair out of his sleeping face. "Oh, snowpuff, what're we gonna do with you?"

* * *

Team Nine reenters the village with the early afternoon sun beating down on them. After exchanging passwords at the southern gate, Kakashi, Katsuko, and Haku are all admitted to the hospital. One of Katsuko's clones runs the scrolls containing the squid carcass up to ANBU HQ. Genma follows Haku's stretcher to the chakra injuries ward and Kurenai escorts Katsuko to orthopedics to have her ribs mended. Alone, Kakashi makes his way to the dermatology department to get the burns on his neck, shoulder, and fingers healed.

Kakashi hasn't gotten any better at dealing with medics, but there's no way the all-important Director of the Hospital would be called into his room to deal with a simple scalding. He strips out of his armor and underpinnings, but leaves the black mask on, the raw skin on the left side of his body screaming with pain, and doesn't bother with a hospital gown as he sits on the cool examination table. The whole room smells of old blood, bleach, and antiseptic, as hospitals tend to.

After seventy heartbeats, the door opens and a stout woman in bright purple scrubs walks in. She introduces herself as Harui Aomi-sensei and informs Kakashi he'll need to take his mask off. He makes it easier by thinking about how much Ryouma is going to tease him about his injuries.

New, shiny pink skin stretches over the burn sites. Aomi-sensei instructs Kakashi to apply ointment to the burns three times a day, and to come in for a follow up healing in two days. The door clicks gently shut as she leaves. Kakashi pulls his mask back on, dons fresh underpinnings, and seals the rest of his gear in a scroll. Now he just wants a cold shower in his own apartment, but he runs into Ryouma on his way out the hospital doors.

"Oh, I was just coming to see you," Ryouma says. "Heard you were hurt, and I thought they'd be keeping you longer."

"Who told you?" Kakashi subtly directs Ryouma up to the rooftops and back towards their apartment.

"I ran into one of Katsu's clones, an' it said you, her, and Haku were all in the hospital. Guess the mission wasn't that bad if you're up and walkin'."

Kakashi seesaws his hand. "Maa, it was average. Haku collapsed from chakra exhaustion, though. I'll tell you more after I stop smelling like fish."

A shower, a change of clothes, and a smear of ointment later, Kakashi sits on the arm of the couch, Ryouma sprawling out across the length of it.

"So," Ryouma says after a few beats of silence. "You gonna tell me about your mission?"

"I still smell like fish." Kakashi knows he's stalling.

"Not to me. If we went by your nose, we'd never talk."

Kakashi snorts, then gives Ryouma the bare details of their mission, ending with, "Shiranui and I both carry soldier pills, so I don't know why Haku didn't ask us for any, if he was running that low."

Ryouma hesitates, chewing on his lip, "He probably thinks he's worth less'n you. Obviously, the top pick for the Godaime Hokage needs a chakra boost more than a one-handed Kiri traitor. Not that I believe that, but the poor kid's got as much self-worth as a used tissue."

"Ah. Hopefully this experience will convince him to ask for help, or Ueno will beat him over the head with it." Kakashi pauses, then amends, "Gently."

"Does she ever do anything gently?" Ryouma flicks his fingers through dry seals, looking up at the ceiling. He suddenly rolls over and props himself up on his elbows, speaking excitedly. "You'll never guess what I saw on the way to the hospital."

"Your chuunin arguing about where to eat lunch?"

"I mean, yeah, but that's nothin' notable. I'll give you two more guesses."

"Escentuals was having a sale and you filled our entire linen closet with soap."

Ryouma sighs sadly. "I wish. Orange blossom's comin' into season soon."

Kakashi thinks for a little while, considering what Ryouma would consider notable enough to tell Kakashi. "Hm...the music store is selling the new Shuriken Force album?"

"They broke up years ago, you know that, Kashi. What, you want a serenade?"

Kakashi chuckles, then leans over to kiss Ryouma on the cheek. "That won't be necessary."

Ryouma flushes. "Well, anyways, I saw a poster for the new Icha Icha movie, and if you wanted to see it..."

"Ryouma. I appreciate the thought, but do you really want to be watching giant sex scenes in a theater full of people?"

"What? No! I was just gonna get it for us - we've got the VHS and shit."

"Oh. In that case, by all means, as long as you don't get upset when I point out everything they changed."

Ryouma leans up and kisses Kakashi's masked lips. "I wouldn't have it any other way."


	16. The Most Popular Kid in the Hospital

When Haku wakes up, he's in a cold white room with an IV drip in his arm and pillows propping him up. Thoughts drift idly by, but he's finding it hard to keep hold of them and he can't muster up the effort to care about why he's in the hospital right now. It'll come crashing back in later, when he can properly hate himself. There are children shouting in the street outside, but Haku can't look out the window because his head feels like a pile of bricks.

A few minutes slip by before a nurse comes in to check Haku's vitals. She smiles warmly at him as she changes his IV bag and says, "Are you feeling up for visitors?"

Haku's eyes slide blearily over to her. "Who'd visit me? My friends are all on missions...missions..." A few memories slot into place. "Fuck, I forgot to get sea glass."

The nurse takes this answer in stride. "Is your captain not Ueno Katsuko-san?"

"Yes, she is, but I dunno why that's important." Haku's eyes are drawn to the motion behind the frosted glass door. He blinks, a few seconds slip away, and then the door bears forth most of the rest of his team, minus Kakashi.

Katsuko smiles softly at him. "Catch up on your beauty rest, snowpuff?"

Everything is very slow and Haku's emotions feel close to the surface. "No, I feel like utter shit. Have you all come to yell at me?"

"No, you made a piss-poor decision in the moment, but I'll think up something for you to do once you're recovered. Though, if you pull some reckless stunt like this again, I'll shave you bald."

Haku shudders. "I like my hair."

"Then you'd best do what she says," Kurenai adds. "Katsuko-chan doesn't back down from anything."

"Ever," Genma puts in. "For the time being, I can put in req forms for you to carry soldier pills."

"Thank you," Haku says quietly.

Katsuko, duty seemingly attended to, nods sharply once, then nudges Genma and Kurenai towards the door. "Glad to know you're alive, but when you're discharged, come find me in our office."

There's another blur of time, and Haku has a déjà vu moment when the door slides open again.

"See, Ryouma? He's fine. His eyes are open and everything." Kakashi's voice comes from the doorway.

"Oh," Haku says. "Hatake-senpai, Ryouma-san. Good morning."

"G'morning to you too, Haku," Ryouma replies with a relieved smile, and Haku almost misses Kakashi's pointed cough. The hands on the wall clock are towards the three. Haku can't quite remember what that means.

"Why's everyone coming to visit me? I'm not that cool."

"I thought you might like to know that both of us suffered chakra exhaustion on our first two missions." Ryouma says as he pulls up a chair and Kakashi stands behind him, pretending to be disinterested.

"No shit," Haku slurs. "But Hatake-senpai is so...competent."

"Notice how he doesn't mention you, Ryouma," Kakashi says, visible eye curving. "I wasn't always scarily competent. There was a time when I was only freakishly competent. Plus, I got a Bingo Book kill. You nearly drowned in a sea of rot."

"And _I_ killed the squid," Haku says prosaically.

"You could have walked home if you'd taken a soldier pill."

Haku sniffs. "Walking is overrated. Taichou's clone's pointy elbows are much better."

"They've got you on the good stuff, huh? Any pain?" Ryouma smiles wryly.

"'S good. Everything is very far away, but I c'touch my toes if I reach for 'em." Haku is about to demonstrate his great flexibility, but Ryouma puts a hand on his shoulder.

"No," he says gently, but firmly.

Haku sighs, eyelids feeling heavy. "Y're no fun anymore."

* * *

It's another four hours before Haku reawakens, feeling a little less high, but still altered somewhat. He's not quite tired enough to fall back asleep, so he stares at the wall, trying to pick out patterns in the way the paint cracks. The door squeaks open, but he's too lost in thought (or lack thereof) to acknowledge it, thinking it's just another nurse.

When he drags his eyes over to that general direction, he meets with a brown-gold pair of eyes staring back at him. "Bach...you?" Haku says slowly. "Thought you had a mission."

Bachyou takes a seat in the chair Ryouma had been using. There's sweat beaded on his forehead and Haku can't figure out why that's important. "I got home yesterday," he says dismissively, and a navy blue blanket comes into Haku's field of view. "Heard you were hurt, and wanted to see you. Chakra exhaustion always makes me cold, but I dunno if you'd feel any different..."

"Freezing," Haku admits, "but I'm not supposed to lift my arms."

"Me either," Bachyou says quickly. He lays the folded blanket on the bed and then closes his eyes, breathing labored. Haku notices something poking out of his elbow, below the short sleeve of his scrubs. Scrubs.

Haku gasps. "You're hurt! You shouldn't have come to see me, you should be resting."

"'M fine. Just got stabbed a little bit, it's no biggie. My nurse is waitin' outside."

Haku gives Bachyou a reproving look, which Bachyou returns in kind. Haku sighs and sinks back into his pillows further. "I wasn't able to get you any sea glass...I'm sorry."

Bachyou coughs a laugh, clutching his stomach. "You think the fuckin' sea glass is what matters to me? I'm just glad you made it back." His breathing still hasn't slowed much, and his blood is running back up the detached IV tubing in the crook of his elbow.

"My team had to carry me... Are you alright, though?" Worrying about Bachyou's pain is keeping Haku from thinking too hard about his failure on the mission.

"I told you I'm fine, already. Just tired."

Haku sighs. Either Bachyou is fine or he isn't, there's no use arguing about it. "I wish you would take better care of yourself. Go back to bed, you need to heal."

"Yeah, I bet you're pretty wiped, too. I'll leave you be, I'm...really happy you're back." Bachyou stands up, grimacing, and hobbles his way out of Haku's room.

"I'm happy you're back, too, Koeshi," Haku says to his hand.

* * *

Five days later, Haku is checking out of the hospital with instructions to not use any chakra for at least another week. An obscene fireball of chakra is barreling towards him, and Haku resigns himself to being yelled at in public by his captain.

"Good afternoon, Ueno-taichou," Haku says warily.

"Hello to you too, Haku! Do you know what time it is?" The grin on Katsuko's face makes Haku's palm sweat.

"It's 1400, ma'am."

"Wrong! It's time for you to write an essay for me. To the office!"

Katsuko marches Haku outside, locks elbows with him, and translocates them both to the top of Hokage Mountain. She leads him down the hall to Team Nine's office, where a short stack of blank paper is on Haku's desk.

"Taichou...what is this about?"

"Teamwork. I want you to really analyze whether you could've avoided kissing the dirt on the last mission. Don't worry, I'll keep you company. I brought hair ties." She snaps one against her wrist in demonstration.

Haku exhales slowly, then gets to work. It's hard to admit that he failed, but that's simply the truth of the matter. What isn't hard is recounting the facts of the mission, and he quickly finds how little room for error there was. Katsuko ties up his hair as he contemplates whether a soldier pill could've made that much difference.

"Taichou, I look ridiculous."

"That's the point! But I swear by Shodai's sainted left testicle that I'll take it all out if you tell me your conclusions. Verbally, please."

Haku blows a raspberry, then says, "Lack of regard for the function I serve on this team lead me to deliberately avoid assistance that could allow me to serve that function."

"Because?" Katsuko twirls a lock of hair around her finger.

"I ignore the needs of my body, and as a result do not use resources effectively."

"And?" Three-quarters of Haku's scalp is covered in pigtails, now.

"I...have...trouble seeing my worth within my team. I assume, wrongly, that other's needs are more important than my own."

Katsuko fluffs one of the pigtails. "Good! How are you gonna fix it?"

"I..." Haku frowns, looking down at the paper and doodling circles in the margins.

Katsuko steps around the desk to look Haku in the eye. "Hey. Hey, Crane, Haku, look at me. I know it's hard. I know. There's stuff you think about yourself, that you learned to believe was right, but you can't just fall back into that, okay? You have to do this, to be a better shinobi. Can you answer me?"

Haku is surprised to feel the wetness of tears in his eyes. "Yes, si-...yes, taichou."

"I think you can do it too. so, what are you gonna change?"

"Pay attention to my chakra reserves," Haku says with pursed lips. "I know stamina is my weakness; I can work to mend that, but in the meantime, I should talk to the lieutenant if I become aware of a problem in the field."

"Or off the field! Genma always welcomes the chance to fuss, you know that. And you don't wanna burn yourself out in training either. What else?"

"I should...understand. That I'm important to the functioning of Team Nine. That if I fail, the mission could fail."

Katsuko cocks her head like a bird sighting prey. "That's true, but I know you already knew that. What are you in relation to your teammates?"

Haku sniffles. "...I'm an equal. I am as crucial as any other part."

"Yes. You're doing really good, snowdrop, just one more thing, okay?"

Haku is silent for a long moment. "...Okay."

"What are you to your teammates, personally?"

"I...I'm...My teammates trust me. Care about me. They don't want me to get hurt."

"That's right. You're our teammate - our partner, part of us, not just a weapon, right?" Katsuko smiles, cordial and bright, and Haku nearly shivers with the warmth it brings.

"Y-yes..."

"It's good to hear you say it."

"I...thank you."

"Anytime, kid." Katsuko claps him on the shoulder.

This time, Haku lets himself bask in the joy of another's approval, at least for a little bit. "...Can you fix my hair now?"

Katsuko makes a sound not unlike a duck and removes the hair ties once she's composed herself.

* * *

After Haku leaves, Katsuko catches Kakashi in the lobby.

"Part one of operation Make Haku Have Some Fucking Sense Of Self Worth was a dazzling success, and you owe me a drink." Katsuko steers Kakashi towards the restaurant district as they exit ANBU HQ. They both put hands up to shield their eyes from the late afternoon sun as it turns Hokage Mountain golden.

"I wasn't aware we had a bet," Kakashi replies, sounding amused, but not fighting the change in direction.

"We didn't! Can't a girl want to hang out with her kohai?"

"Fine. I'll go half with you, since he drooled on me when your first batch of clones poofed."


End file.
